Home improvements: How to ace floral arrangements

Condition your flowers by trimming the stems and letting them stand in a big bucket of water for a few hours.

Add flower food or a dash of bleach, and change water regularly. Remove all leaves below the water line otherwise they will rot. If necessary, use florist foam, marbles or a flower frog to keep flowers in place. Another good way to hold flowers in place in a wide vase is to criss-cross adhesive tape across the top in a grid, and slot the flowers into it.

Be creative and don’t worry about rules. Experiment with vases and containers.

Add foliage for contrasting texture and colour. Think about the colours and shapes of the flowers, and how you can enhance them with added foliage. Ivy is great for trailing down the side of a vase and adding width, and ferns and grasses are wonderful for adding height and some spikiness. Foliage such as fennel and alchemilla mollis creates a more frothy arrangement.

A great way to add lusciousness is to mix in some faux flowers and foliage. You’ll get a really luxurious bouquet without spending a fortune.

* Courtesy of Mia Fleur