The winter garden is often seen as dull, lifeless, and colorless. But what if we told you there are plenty of ways to make that winter garden attractive? There are many options that can make your garden fun and interesting to look at in every season. Pruning is, contrary to what many people think, not a priority in this season. The different textures, seed heads, and shapes of plants in winter make the garden a feast for the eyes during the coldest months of the year.
Bring some color to the winter garden
A simple but effective solution to bring some color to the winter garden is to add winter bloomers . Some plants have a nice color, a special leaf shape, or produce beautiful flowers during the harsh winter months. Perfect for planting in a pot and decorating the terrace or to brighten up borders. We’d love to give you some options:
Gaultheria or mountain tea. A small shrub with dark green leaves and bright red berries.
Violas. Small but lovely: a subtle flower that brightens up any pot.
Skimmia. A dark green shrub with special, cluster-shaped flowers.
Helleborus. A beautiful bloomer that adds color to any pot or border.
Snowdrops. Create a snow-white carpet in the border and also fit perfectly in a pot.
Witch hazel. A beautiful bloomer that flowers with yellow, orange, or reddish-brown flowers on bare wood.
Viburnum or snowball. There are both evergreen and deciduous shrubs with beautiful, lightly fragrant flowers.
Learn more through our videos
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In this video, Angelo shows some of his favorite summer bloomers: Echinacea and Hydrangea. Coincidentally, these are also two plants that are perfect for thewinter garden .
A vibrant winter bloomer: the hellebore
The Helleborus or Christmas rose is a plant that captures the imagination. During the coldest and darkest months of the year, it blooms like crazy. It is wintergreen and adds a beautiful splash of color to the winter border. The Helleborus comes in a variety of colors: from white to purple and everything in between.Most species are also evergreen, which adds structure. By the way, the first insects are really happy with these flowers; they provide them with much-needed food. Do the flowers of the Helleborus hang completely limp after a tough winter prick ? That's perfectly normal. The ingenious little plant stores all the moisture in the leaves and roots at freezing temperatures to protect the flowers. When the temperatures rise, the moisture is moved back to the flowers, and they stand tall again.
By the way, the Helleborus really loves the shade. In the summer, it doesn't like to be in full sun, so a spot in the shade or partial shade is ideal. It also prefers to be sheltered from the strong wind.Leaves that are ugly or withered can just be pruned away in the winter. This way, the flowers get enough sunlight to develop beautifully. Occasionally trim away leaves so the plant can also invest enough energy in the flowers.
Structural plants: a party for you and the critters
Many plants die off in the winter or completely wither. Not a pretty sight in winter, as it leaves a bare spot in the border. However, there are plants that do wither but retain their shape and structure . The plant gets a beautiful discoloration or has very nice seed pods or flower spikes that remain. It's very nice for us to look at and also a real feast for the birds and insects. They can feast on all the seed pods, flower heads, and spikes during the cold winter months. Some insects even make it their personal spot to survive the winter.So feel free to be a bit lazy and leave that pruning shear aside until early March. If you prune everything rigorously in the fall or winter, there will be nothing left of any winter silhouettes. In spring, you can then have a spring cleaning and trim back the structural plants. Structural plants look their best with a fine layer of frost: truly beautiful to see.Some options that are great as structural plants:
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Echinacea or coneflower
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Verbena bonariensis or ironweed
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Ornamental grasses
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Astilbe or plume spirea
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Dipsacus or greater burdock
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Wild fennel
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Lunaria or honesty
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Phlomis or Jerusalem sage
Ground covers: essential in the winter garden
To fill in the bare and empty spots in the border, we have another handy tip. Evergreen ground covers create a green carpet in winter, so you never have to look at bare soil. This protects the soil from harsh weather conditions and also prevents the growth of unwanted weeds. Finally, the ground cover helps keep the soil from drying out too quickly and provides a hiding place for small insects in the green carpet. Ground covers usually grow through creeping runners , both above and below ground. So it’s no problem if you remove some runners to add a new plant to your border. You can also perfectly plant bulbs among the greenery. Ground covers stay low to the ground, so they won’t hinder the taller plants.Some examples of evergreen ground covers are:
- Vinca minor or periwinkle
- Thymus or creeping thyme
- Tiarella or foamflower
- Geranium or cranesbill
