6 Steps to Creating a Beautiful Winter Garden
Wow, winter well and truly arrived in Edinburgh last week! Gazing out of the window got me thinking about winter gardens and what makes a good one. With so many options to give you colour, scent, shape and interest during the winter months, there’s definitely no need to settle for an empty, desolate garden. And while we might not be able to or want to get outside, we still want to look out at something lovely, don’t we?
We’re not going to have the large, showy flowers of spring and summer but we can still have the structure of evergreens, architectural foliage, colourful stems, and beautiful bark and berries.
If you're thinking the same and want that dream winter garden, follow these 6 easy steps:
1. Evergreens
Evergreens provide form, structure, and architectural foliage all year-round. Look for plants that can be clipped or naturally form topiary shapes. Hebe topiara grows super well here in Edinburgh and needs little maintenance. Phormiums, yuccas, Ilex crenata and fatsias are other good choices. Repeating these plants also gives structure, continuity, and a rhythm to your space.
2. Colourful stems
Colourful stems are another really easy way of introducing winter interest to your space. Cornus is a must with red, orange, yellow, purple or black stem options. Top tip is to plant east to west so that the stems catch the best of the morning and late-afternoon sun. This will light up the fiery stems where they catch the winter sun. Planting in drifts looks amazing but equally one in a small space is definitely worth a go.
Once established, cornus should be cut back hard in early spring to the ground. This ensures you get a new bright coloured stems the next winter.
3. Ornamental bark
Ornamental bark is another must for a winter garden and can look amazing when combined with other plants. Great options include the white stems of Betula utilis var. jacquemontii, deep mahogany of the Prunus serrula or the peeling gorgeousness of the Acer griseum.
4. Berries
Keeping their gold, orange, red, pink and purple berries right into winter, most hardy berry-producing trees and shrubs are easy to grow and don’t need much pruning. Great for large and small gardens, ornamental crab apples have probably the best of all the winter fruits. Rows or planted across a lawn, crab apples look amazing in a larger space, but there are also small varieties that are ideal for smaller spaces, courtyards and even containers.
5. Flowers
And who doesn’t need some sort of floral magic in their garden right now? Hellebores, winter honeysuckle, winter-flowering viburnums and witch hazels all provide that much-needed softness and variety in the garden. Bulbs like snowdrops, aconites, and early narcissus also add colour to the mix.
6. Garden Art
Mix all of this up with some garden art in the form of plant supports and other structures and you’ve got a garden that will look good whatever the weather.
Does that all make sense or do you need some some help to turn your dream winter garden into a reality? If you do, my garden design services are perfect for you.
If you need a more inspiring garden view next winter, check out my garden design and planting design services. My services are tailored to meet your needs, however large or small, and include after-care, tuition and maintenance, if you need it.
Katie Townsend Garden Design is a small design studio in Edinburgh.
Working on a broad range of projects from courtyard gardens to small city gardens, and larger spaces, we cover Edinburgh, Glasgow and East and West Lothian. We also offer virtual design services throughout the UK.