Pruning your wisteria? Don't discard the cuttings – one gardener urges us to keep them for Christmas

Now is the time to pruning wisteria to cut back any unruly stems. A tactical summer chop ensures the plant's energy is redirected back into long, leafy growth and encourages it to produce flowers, while keeping the plant looking tidy too.

While browsing my social media feed, I stumbled across an ingenious sustainable gardening idea of repurposing the cut branches for homemade decorations.

Garden influencer Sophie Valentine, best known as @lookinsidemygarden on Instagram, explains: "I'm getting ready for Christmas with my wisteria. I save all the whips and make them into wreath bases. It's so easy to do, and it means that there is no waste in the garden."

Sophie shares helpful beginner tutorial videos with her 374k followers to encourage others to get more from their gardens. In her recent post, she shared her brilliant tip for reducing garden waste while tidying up your Wisteria and getting ahead for Christmas. But in the spirit of celebrating all the seasons, we will be making autumn wreaths first.

Advising fans on how to reuse the off-cuts, Sophie says: "Using a glove, pull off all the leaves from your shoots, so you have a perfect fresh stem to work with."

"Then curl your stem into a circle shape and start to create the shape of your wreath base. I add to it as I prune so you can build up how thick it gets."

"Wisteria looks dramatic, but pruning it is actually very straightforward once you know the trick," says Orpheus Alexander, w&h's resident garden expert.

"In summer, cut this year's long, whippy shoots back to about five or six leaves. It might feel like you're cutting a lot off, but don't be afraid to be firm. A well-pruned wisteria will reward you with far more flowers."

Homemade wreaths are easier to make than most people think, but it all starts with a good base. The beauty of making one with intertwined branches means a strong foundation to support the foliage as you build your wreath.

While this idea is dedicated to Christmas, you can make a wreath for all seasons; this tip can be used all year round depending on what you are cutting back when.

The plants you prune in March may provide stems for a spring wreath, and the plants you prune in September could be enough to fashion an autumn wreath.

As someone who makes a homemade wreath every year, I am especially excited about this tip because the base is always the part that I have to buy – the rest is freshly cut from the garden. But not now. I'm going to start collecting unwanted stems to make a twig base, so my seasonal wreath is entirely foraged from now on.

Sophie's followers were also quick to praise the idea. One wrote: "Great idea! I could make so many doing this! Thanks for the idea." While another says, "That’s genius! Thank you for yet another great tip."

So will you be giving your garden waste a new lease of life by making your own wreath base?