Essential Floral Design Tools: Chicken Wire, Foam, Frogs, Tape & More!

In my online Masterclass about the Business of Floral and Event design, I cover a lot of important basics - those foundational aspects of business and design that everything else is built upon. From the initial questions to as yourself about the kind of business you want to run and determining when to hire a team, to the more creative tasks of envisioning and designing events that impress, it’s important to have a great starting point to grow from. After all, your can’t create an elaborate, luxury wedding floral installation like the one shown below without knowing how to build that first, foundational layer!

Photo by: Kris Kan Photography

I get so many questions asking exactly how I make my floral arrangements that in this post I thought I’d talk about the very first steps of design mechanics, or, the way in which an arrangement is pieced together. In particular, let’s talk about choosing your floral arrangement’s base.

There are many ways to construct a floral arrangement, and included below are some of my personal favorite tools I use in the mechanics of my designs. To make them extra easy to find for your own projects, I’ve added all of these tools my Amazon store.

Chicken Wire

An inexpensive tool that can be used when arranging flowers. It’s great if you want a straight to water arrangement and a looser, natural structure, allowing flowers to fall naturally. Chicken wire can be found at your local home improvement store or the all too convenient, Amazon. I tend to prefer the ones that are not too thick in width because I find it easier to mold into the shape of the container I am using.

Frogs

One of the more expensive tools used to help with arranging florals. Frogs have the benefits of chicken wire where flowers are laying more naturally, and the benefit of the foam where once placed in they don’t move too much. Used with “cling” or a waterproof putty. Frogs are an expensive piece of material to use when arranging flowers so I try to avoid them where possible but when I do use them I tend to purchase whichever manufacturer has the best price at the time.

Waterproof Tape Grid

Similar to the option of using chicken wire, waterproof tape used to form a grid is an inexpensive way to arrange flowers. It too, is a great way to arrange when having your flowers go directly into water, and unlike chicken wire, provides the ability to determine the width of the insertion spot. You can use either clear or green waterproof tape. I tend to lean towards green because I have found it to have a stronger bond, however, there may be times I decide to use clear tape if my containers cause the tape to be visible to the eye.

Floral Foam

An inexpensive material and tool that provides security in the placement of flowers as it keeps flowers exactly where you place them. For large arrangements consider covering the floral foam with chicken wire or using waterproof tape to provide further security. There are many types of floral foam to choose from but two brands that are typically my go to are Aqua foam and Oasis. They come in a variety of options ranging from foams that are intended for instant use, meaning the processing of having water absorbed is faster to foams that are specific to springtime stems, which tend to consist of more delicate flowers. I typically use the Oasis Max Life Foam to help better extend the life of the flowers.

Designer’s Dish

Functional dishes that can dress up a pedestal or column display or serve as a base for any floral design. Designer’s dishes (or Lomey dishes) come in multiple sizes and the one you use will be dependent on the shape you’re going for and overall size. Make sure to invest in well-made designer’s dishes because after all, they are what will ultimately be carrying the weight of your flowers.

Ready for your next steps? Explore all of my favorite floral design supplies in my Amazon store, and for more education I encourage you to check out my online Masterclass. It contains information on all of the tools, supplies, design concepts and mechanics you need to learn to create spectacular floral arrangements yourself!

(As an Amazon Associate I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases, but rest assured I only recommend products I love! )