These Plants Will Make Your Garden Look Good in the Winter
Winter is a challenging time for gardens. We forget to even consider our gardens in the dead of winter but there is a way to make your garden look more inviting during those cold months. Just because it’s winter it doesn’t mean your garden has to die.
Snowdrops-Photo by Annie Spratt
Brightening up a winter garden.
To start with, Everlasting Evergreen (evergreen hedges) will bring colour and structure to your garden and brighten up the dreary winter landscape. I love how the leaves of the Beech Hedge plants (Fagus Sylvatica) turn from green into coppery brown making winter gardens more inviting and cosy (the coppery leaves look great in a snow landscape). Classic and elegant looking Yew Hedge (Taxus Baccata) and Portugal Laurel (Prunus Iusitanica) will stay green during winter.
The plants that will give your garden a winter makeover:
Go wild with Snowdrops. Snowdrops are so easy to plant and grow. They are pretty and resilient to cold weather. Plant the bulbs in late autumn, in natural-looking drifts in prominent places in your garden. For example, next to your entrance door, or on the borders where you can see them from the house. Snowdrops love to go wild, so every year a few more will appear.
Witch Hazel, Hamamelis. Witch Hazels are flowering plants that bloom in the winter and add colour and charm to a winter garden. With their spicy fragrant yellow or warm orange flowers they also look great in a vase. You can plant them alone or in a group of three or five and add a carpet of spring flowers (such as Snowdrops, Muscari and Dwarf Daffodils) underneath.
Hamamelis-Photo by Wesseling Tuinen
Heavenly Hellebore-Photo by Annie Spratt
Seedheads-Photo by Markus Spiske
Heavenly Hellebore. Heavenly Hellebores are winter jewels that brighten up any garden during winter and early spring. My favourite species are Helleborus ‘Harvington White Speckled’ (white with red speckles flowers from February to April) and Helleborus ‘Harvington Shades of the Night’ (with deep purple-black flowers). Combine them with Snowdrops and creamy White Daffodils.
Seedheads. Seedheads (the faded flowers) look great in winter, they take on a special beauty. These flowers not only bring structure and intensity to a dull winter garden, but they also attract insects and provide food for birds. Sedums, Rudbeckias, and Echinops are some of the best architectural Seedheads. You can leave the Seedheads’ growth during winter and remove them in spring (ideal for dried floral arrangements) when the new growth starts.
Winter can be a quiet time in your garden. It can also be beautiful and inviting if you plant and grow a few plants that flower in the cold weather. This way you can make the most of your outdoor space and enjoy nature all year around. Don’t hesitate to contact Botaniq for a consultation!
Content Editor Sofia Simeonidou