How to make a herbarium: the design of the album and drying of plants

Applications made from dried branches and leaves are an interesting, original hobby. But before you make a herbarium, you need to stock up on a different type of material. Collecting raw materials for the compositions can be in the summer and autumn. For each type of plant there is the most suitable time when its shoots and leaves take a beautiful color. Collecting, drying, storing leaves is a truly creative process. Modern ways of preparing the material allow you to see real art in a simple herbarium.

What is herbarium

You can absolutely collect any items. The collection of natural plant parts is called herbarium. From herba Latin - grass. Previously stored and straightened leaves for crafts using paper. Made this method popular botanist Luca Guiney. Due to the hygroscopicity of the material, the sheets could be in a certain position for a long time and did not deteriorate.

Modern scientists in the field of botany, biology continue to collect rare species. In addition to the usual paper way, the collections are placed in digital herbariums. Information about the species is contained in a scanned photograph of a part of the plant. The largest collections are in museums, scientific institutes of the USA, France, Switzerland.

Home collections are common, have their own names. They are used to decorate the interior, they work with them on creative activities in kindergartens and elementary school classes. Store them in ordinary folders, homemade boxes, on the wall under the glass. To create a herbarium, you can use simple materials at hand. Enough to inspire your favorite idea and get to work.

What plants and how to collect

The choice of plant material for the collection depends on the purpose of its creation. Typical samples of the usual color, medium shape suitable for scientific and educational herbaria. For the creation of decorative compositions, bouquets fit the most bizarre herbs. It must be intact bright elements. It is necessary to take sheets with a margin in order to be able to replace a spoiled sheet when drying or during gluing.

You can collect various plants in your own garden, in the park, in the schoolyard. To choose good herbarium specimens, you should follow these rules:

• You can go in search of material only in dry weather;
• The best time to collect is noon or evening, when all the moisture will evaporate as much as possible;
• Small plants are extracted from the ground along with the root in order to be able to evaluate all its parts;
• If a herbarium needs a part of a tree or a shrub, choose the most outstanding area by which it will be easier to identify it;
• If it is necessary to look at the type of plates in hardwood shoots, they should be cut with a sharp knife;
• Only healthy parts of plants are suitable for collecting. No signs of illness, pest damage or other defects should be present;
• To make an accurate description of the plant, species information should be recorded when they are still in their natural habitat.

Variants and rules of drying plants

Almost any flower, from simple field chamomile to a noble rose, can turn into an excellent material for postcards and panels. To reduce losses during drying, you need to know how to properly store plants for crafts. There are many ways to prepare the material, thanks to which it is possible to make raw materials flat or to preserve its original shape and color.

Natural drying

The easiest way to dry is in the open air. It is popular among owners of private houses. It is enough to gather flowers or herbs, form small bouquets and hang them on a rope by the stems. If the bunches are not thick, they can simply be spread out on a flat surface. Under them they spread a paper napkin and leave it in a well-blown place. Cover herbarium in the sun is not recommended.

The method of natural drying allows you to immediately prepare a large amount of plant material. This process can last 1-3 weeks, depending on the thickness of the stem and bud size. It should be understood that any workpiece will straighten up and it will be difficult to give it a curved shape. Elements for the future of the decor are folded according to a planned plan and fixed. After drying the stem is enough to sprinkle with varnish.

Flat dry under the press

This method will help make the plants as attractive as possible and keep in this form for a long time. This technique appeared one of the first, and for many years remained the most popular. But flat drying is not suitable for all plants. In especially juicy specimens, it is necessary to change the moisture-absorbing sheets several times a day.

The most popular option for drying flat leaves is to place them in a large book between pages. Greens straighten and cover with paper. To weight add a press. This may be several other books or any heavy object (iron, a container of water, etc.). The main thing is to provide complete rest to the samples, to exclude their shifting.

If the book version is suitable for amateurs, then a special press is used for large-scale professional drying. A more complex design consists of two identical planks with holes at the edges for fastening. Plant elements are laid on the plane and clamped with strings. For better and faster drying, the press is carried out in the daytime.

How to make a press with your own hands

It is very easy to make a good drying press for plants at home. You need two pieces of plywood the size of an album sheet, a drill, four bolts with nuts, and a few sheets of thick cardboard. The job is as follows:

1. Mark the holes along the edges of the tree and drill according to the size of the thread;
2. Insert the bolts into the bottom base of the product;
3. We put cardboard, we place plants for herbarium on it;
4. We cover with a blotter and another sheet of cardboard, place the leaves in several layers;
5. Dress the wooden cover on the bolts and tighten;

During drying, all plants acquire the shape of the surface on which they lie. Corrugated cardboard, corrugated napkins can be used only if you need to create a certain pattern.

Bulk drying in bulk solids

In order to preserve the samples in the most natural form, they use drying in bulk materials. In this way, you can get stunning natural specimens for three-dimensional paintings, bouquets, children's crafts. You will need to find a suitable size container and filler. As a substance for drying, you can use any material that absorbs moisture. Silicone gel, cat litter for a toilet on its base, sand, and others.

Place the samples in a deep bowl with the caps down and carefully pour the bulk material for bulk drying. It is important to act slowly, trying not to damage the delicate petals. All plant parts must be completely covered.

The drying time depends on the type and size of the plants. On average, it is 2-3 weeks. When it comes time to get the blanks for the herbarium, it is necessary to pour the upper layer of filler and gently pull the stem. The remaining bulk material is unsuitable for reuse.

Drying with glycerin

This method is used if it is necessary to keep the buds and leaves elastic and natural. Also, glycerin will make the colors of greens and petals darker and more saturated. Storage solution can be prepared independently from simple components.

Pour water into the prepared container, add glycerin in proportions (3: 1). Mix well. On the stem of each plant we make longitudinal cuts with a knife or blade, immerse it in liquid. In this environment, the workpiece should be 3-5 days. During this time, the solution must be poured, because it will evaporate quickly.

You can determine the degree of impregnation by color. In finished plants, petals and leaves noticeably darken. After taking out the samples should be spread out on paper and put in a dark place, protected from dust. To give the buds an original color, you can tint them a little with a spray bottle or add a food coloring to the glycerin stage.

Quick drying with household appliances

Express methods of drying with household appliances reduce this process to one day, but may adversely affect the quality of the plant. Because of the high probability of spoiling the sample, such methods are resorted to only as a last resort. You can organize home drying using the following household appliances:

• Iron. Natural material is placed between two sheets of paper, ironed with a hot iron until complete evaporation of moisture.
• Microwave. It is necessary to lay flowers in layers between two tiles and tie. Layers can be made of cardboard or watercolor paper.
• Oven. Large flowers on the stems are placed on a dry baking sheet and processed at a low temperature.
• Hair dryer Blow leaves and flowers with hot air, adjusting its temperature. To prevent the samples from coagulating, drying is carried out with respites in several approaches.

How to use dried samples

After the most difficult stages of preparation of the herbarium are completed, you can start creating original interior decorations and making beautiful handicrafts. You can replenish your collection with rare samples or put it away for storage until the right moment. There are many interesting ideas that allow the use of dried plants with practical and aesthetic benefits.

Creating an album

A special album for samples can be used as a place for their storage or for demonstration of collection vegetation. You can purchase a finished product for special purposes in the store or make it yourself. Design absolutely any - with the ability to group by color, type, size. Plants can be attached tightly or temporarily fixed.

A good album for herbarium can only be paper. Natural materials will be better preserved if they are in contact only with tracing paper and cardboard. On one page can be located one instance or group. If the herbarium is created for future use, samples can be placed in transparent files and collected in a folder.

Creation of pictures and panels

Flat wall or floor decor - one of the most simple interior decoration. A panel of dried herbs or flowers can be of any size, represent a rare single instance or various compositions. Small pictures of yellow leaves are made in schools with the onset of autumn.

To create a flat crafts you will need a wooden photo frame, a sheet of paper, two identical A4-sized glass and a strong glue. One glass is covered with a white sheet and the plants are laid out on it according to the intended pattern. The layout is easier to do from the middle of the sheet, gradually moving away to the edges. We cover the plants with a second glass and place them in the frame, having previously smeared the edges with glue.

Postcard design

A handmade card made from natural materials will be the best gift. As a decor, you can use bulk flowers or flat leaves. We select the appropriate size and color of cardboard, lay out on it the dried billet. They must be secured with glue. To exclude falling off and deformation of leaflets, we cover them with self-adhesive film for books. The top layer of the card should be pressed and well ironed with the scissors handle, getting rid of voids. Excess film cut off at the edges.

A gift card does not have to be standard sizes. As a basis, you can use a regular sheet of paper or a thin strip-bookmark. You can arrange in a landscape or book form, with the addition of a picture.

Making decorative wreaths

The original interior decoration does not necessarily coincide with a particular holiday. Beautiful crafts can be hung on the door or wall at any time. Herbarium collected in summer and autumn is used as the main parts. Properly dried samples can be attached to the ring at any time of the year.

To create an autumn wreath from dry material, you will need to stock up with a large number of bright flowers and leaves. For the frame will need wire, thread, food film. As an additional decor, bows, beads, butterflies and other trifles will do. You can make a natural wreath quickly and correctly, if you follow the following instructions:

1. Preparing the base. Twist the wire ring several times. At this stage it is necessary to provide a loop for hanging the finished product.
2. We divide herbariums into bouquets, apply to the frame.
3. We cut off the coil of 5 cm from the hank of food film.
4. We wrap the film alternately dry plants to the base, trying to give volume to the product.

If dry blanks have lost color during storage or simply do not have enough of the necessary types for crafts, you can cover the finished wreath with paint of any color from the sprayer.

Compositions: rules for making dry flowers

Plants that have an attractive appearance after drying, many gardeners are grown intentionally. They can remain on the site all winter for decorative purposes, or they can be torn off green and dried to create stunning bulk compositions. Lunaria, immortelles, heathers, hawktail and others are planted more often.

To create a composition of dried flowers will need a low and wide pot. Capacity does not have to be at the bottom of the hole, it performs an exclusively decorative function. To make the plants stand longer and not sprinkled, a floral sponge is placed on the bottom of the vase. Using scissors, we give the necessary form to penoflora and insert plant stalks into it. Registration of the composition should take place according to the following rules:

• The largest elements should be exhibited first of all according to the idea. It is better to place them in the center.
• We distribute the dried flowers of the original shape, color, or which the least amount, evenly.
• Insert vertical elements. The best place for spike plants is near the most inexpressive flowers.
• Along the edges of the composition we place bushy twigs, for example, heather.
• The remaining voids need to decorate low small plants.

Herbarium storage and care

Since dried plants are very hygroscopic, their first enemy is moisture. In the damp they instantly deteriorate. The herbarium can only be stored in a dry room, in closed albums or folders. To protect valuable collections from insect attacks, they are periodically treated with insecticides.

To keep a collection of dry plants as long as possible, you should handle it with care. Fragile specimens react negatively even to the slightest external influence (temperature increase, humidity, shaking, etc.). For the treatment of valuable historical herbarium collections, special techniques have been developed, which are indicated on the title page of each collection.

Each collector is obliged to label all plants with a label. The stock of dry wood that is not yet glued in or not used for decoration should be stored in special folders with printed sheets or in stacks of paper.

Conclusion

Dried plants are not just great decor, but also a visual aid, material for handicrafts. From the beautiful leaves, branches you can make a bright picture or a natural card. Crafts made from dried materials, made even by a child, will perfectly fit into any interior. Eco style accepts all natural, so the panel of flowers, volumetric compositions will look especially good in it.