If you have put your garden to bed for the winter and plan to ignore it until spring, you are missing an exciting opportunity to enjoy your outside space all year long. Despite what you may think, the garden is not “dead” in the winter but offers a more subtle and peaceful beauty. Yes, you can have a lovely winter garden even if you can only experience its appeal from inside on a cold winter day. If you’d like to have a garden with all-season interest, here are a few tips to creating a pleasing winter look.
Tip #1: Start by planting evergreen plants near your viewing areas to give structure and continuity to your garden. As the name implies, evergreens are trees, shrubs and perennials that keep their foliage year round. They are the backbone of the garden and are of particular importance in the winter when they take center stage. Conifers are a great option. They are cone-bearing trees with needle-like foliage including pines, cedars, junipers, spruces, cypresses and arborvitaes. They are easy to maintain and add pleasing shapes and textures to the garden. Evergreen plants that look great massed together are acuba, boxwood, plum yew, pittosporum, autumn fern, Japanese aralia (Fatsia japonica) and laurel.
Tip #2: Add plants that bloom in the winter for a pop of color on a dreary day. If you plant evergreens that also produce flowers or berries during the winter, you have the added benefit of green foliage and spots of color. Many hollies are cherished for their cheerful red berries that can last all winter long. Look for American holly (Ilex opaca), Emily Bruner holly (Ilex x ‘Emily Bruner’) and Nellie R. Stevens holly (Ilex x ‘Nellie R. Stevens). By adding plants with berries and seeds you will attract more birds to your winter garden that will provide hours of entertainment, color, movement and sound.
Camellias are prized for their glossy green foliage and their gorgeous large flowers. Camellia sasanqua blooms in the late fall through the end of the year. Look for ‘Yuletide’ for a red splash of color during the holidays. Camellia japonica varieties begin blooming in January through the early spring. Lenten rose (Helleborus) is an evergreen ground cover that is covered in sweet nodding multi-colored blooms beginning in January and lasting until May! Winter Daphne (Daphne odora) not only has glossy foliage but fragrant flowers that bloom in February and add another dimension of appeal.
Tip #3: Include plants with interesting shapes, textures and colors. It isn’t just about the leaves and flowers. For more appeal, select some plants with exfoliating bark, like the crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia) or the stunning scarlet bark of the Japanese coral bark maple (Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’). Add some whimsy by planting a Harry Lauder’s walking stick (Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’) with its twisted corkscrew branches.
For added winter interest, leave some dried seed heads or pods on your summer perennials like false indigo (Baptisia spp.) and yarrow (Achilea ‘Moonshine’). Don’t prune off the fading blooms from your hydrangeas and sunflowers. They look great in the winterscape. Some gardeners even spray glitter on the dried blooms for a little holiday bling in the garden!
Tip #4: Mass plant a flower bed or fill containers and window boxes with seasonal annual blooms such as pansies, violas and ornamental chard, kale or cabbage for a touch of color near your front door or patio.
Tip #5: Place some garden art as focal points strategically outside your windows. Right now when the leaves are off the deciduous trees, take a good look at your garden from each window in your house. Is there an interesting view to enjoy or just a bland landscape? Even in the winter, you should see something outside to catch your attention. Garden ornaments like arbors, benches, fountains and statuary make such a charming statement in the winter, particularly when sprinkled with snow!
