Make the Most of Your Garden During the Quiet Season
Discover 9 ways to make your winter garden more beautiful, functional and inviting to wildlife
With a little bit of effort, gardens can be just as beautiful through the coldest months of the year as they are during the warm season. Stripped free of deciduous leaves and showy flowers, winter gardens shine with subtle textures and the stately forms of evergreen trees and shrubs. Here are a number of ideas to make the most of your garden during the winter, including ways to brighten garden beds, and top choices for flowers that bloom during the season.
2. Showcase Garden Structure
Winter gardens can have quiet, peaceful simplicity. Clean up moldering warm-season plants, and spread a fresh layer of bark to accentuate the geometric forms of evergreen shrubs and trees. Take advantage of the absence of perennials to reassess areas of the garden that could benefit from evergreens planted for privacy screening in spring.
Winter gardens can have quiet, peaceful simplicity. Clean up moldering warm-season plants, and spread a fresh layer of bark to accentuate the geometric forms of evergreen shrubs and trees. Take advantage of the absence of perennials to reassess areas of the garden that could benefit from evergreens planted for privacy screening in spring.
3. Grow Cool-Season Crops
In mild-winter climates, plant seedlings for cool-season edibles like kale, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, sugar snap peas, mustard greens, collards, Brussels sprouts, onions and garlic.
For colder regions, grow cool-season edibles in raised beds under a cold frame. Many edible greens, such as ‘Red Russian’ kale and purple cabbage, are ornamental enough to grow as part of container displays.
Seeds or Seedlings? How to Get Your Garden Started
In mild-winter climates, plant seedlings for cool-season edibles like kale, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, sugar snap peas, mustard greens, collards, Brussels sprouts, onions and garlic.
For colder regions, grow cool-season edibles in raised beds under a cold frame. Many edible greens, such as ‘Red Russian’ kale and purple cabbage, are ornamental enough to grow as part of container displays.
Seeds or Seedlings? How to Get Your Garden Started
4. Plant Winter Bloomers
In temperate climates, refresh tired garden borders with winter-flowering bedding plants such as red and white cyclamens, pastel-colored violas, and pale green and white hellebores. Near the front door, plant winter-blooming shrubs like holiday-favorite ‘Yuletide’ sasanqua camellia (Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’, USDA zones 7 to 10; find your zone), which produces crimson blooms from late fall through early January.
In colder climates, turn to white-flowering ‘Winter’s Snowman’ camellia (C. x ‘Winter’s Snowman’, zones 6 to 10) or red-flowering ‘Spring’s Promise’ camellia (C. japonica ‘Spring’s Promise’, zones 6 to 10), both of which are hardy to minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 23.3 degrees Celsius.
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In temperate climates, refresh tired garden borders with winter-flowering bedding plants such as red and white cyclamens, pastel-colored violas, and pale green and white hellebores. Near the front door, plant winter-blooming shrubs like holiday-favorite ‘Yuletide’ sasanqua camellia (Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’, USDA zones 7 to 10; find your zone), which produces crimson blooms from late fall through early January.
In colder climates, turn to white-flowering ‘Winter’s Snowman’ camellia (C. x ‘Winter’s Snowman’, zones 6 to 10) or red-flowering ‘Spring’s Promise’ camellia (C. japonica ‘Spring’s Promise’, zones 6 to 10), both of which are hardy to minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 23.3 degrees Celsius.
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5. Plan to Relax Outdoors
In warm-winter climates — or with the help of outdoor heaters — make the most of your winter garden by setting up your outdoor space for outdoor lounging. Decorate an outdoor table with potted dwarf conifers and forced paperwhites (Narcissus spp.). Hang a string of lights or bring out a few candles to make the space inviting.
In warm-winter climates — or with the help of outdoor heaters — make the most of your winter garden by setting up your outdoor space for outdoor lounging. Decorate an outdoor table with potted dwarf conifers and forced paperwhites (Narcissus spp.). Hang a string of lights or bring out a few candles to make the space inviting.
6. Feed Birds and Hang Nest Boxes for Spring
Wild birds bring life to gardens as they flit between shrubs while hunting for bugs and seeds. In the coldest months, when food sources can be scarce, birds particularly benefit from supplemental sources of seed, suet (animal fat) and nectar. Hang a bird feeder in your garden or sprinkle seeds on the ground in a sheltered area. To prepare for birds choosing nesting sites in spring, mount birdhouses in your garden.
Make Your Garden a Haven for Backyard Birds
Wild birds bring life to gardens as they flit between shrubs while hunting for bugs and seeds. In the coldest months, when food sources can be scarce, birds particularly benefit from supplemental sources of seed, suet (animal fat) and nectar. Hang a bird feeder in your garden or sprinkle seeds on the ground in a sheltered area. To prepare for birds choosing nesting sites in spring, mount birdhouses in your garden.
Make Your Garden a Haven for Backyard Birds
7. Add Color With Bark and Berries
Brighten winter garden beds with plants chosen for vivid bark and berry colors. Planted in front of blue-green conifers, the branches of ‘Midwinter Fire’ bloodtwig dogwood (Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’, zones 3 to 7) nearly glow. Winterberry (Ilex verticillata, zones 3 to 9) and other plants in the holly genus are great choices for winter berries.
Choose plants at nurseries now since you’ll have the best selection among varieties with highly decorative fruits in bright red, orange and gold. In cold regions, keep the shrubs in pots on the porch until planting in spring.
10 Beautiful Native Plants to Enliven Winter Gardens
Brighten winter garden beds with plants chosen for vivid bark and berry colors. Planted in front of blue-green conifers, the branches of ‘Midwinter Fire’ bloodtwig dogwood (Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’, zones 3 to 7) nearly glow. Winterberry (Ilex verticillata, zones 3 to 9) and other plants in the holly genus are great choices for winter berries.
Choose plants at nurseries now since you’ll have the best selection among varieties with highly decorative fruits in bright red, orange and gold. In cold regions, keep the shrubs in pots on the porch until planting in spring.
10 Beautiful Native Plants to Enliven Winter Gardens
8. Plant One or Two Cheerful Containers
Add interest and welcoming color to entryways with potted winter arrangements. In hard-winter regions, choose a heavyweight ceramic container that can withstand subfreezing temperatures without cracking. Combine evergreen foliage, such as boxwoods or conifers, with winter-blooming flowers or branches of preserved berries.
Add interest and welcoming color to entryways with potted winter arrangements. In hard-winter regions, choose a heavyweight ceramic container that can withstand subfreezing temperatures without cracking. Combine evergreen foliage, such as boxwoods or conifers, with winter-blooming flowers or branches of preserved berries.
9. Plan Ahead for Spring
Take advantage of the quiet season in the garden to get ready for spring planting and to map out projects for the upcoming year. On mild winter days, get ahead on chores like mulching beds, clearing perennials of dead stalks and spreading gravel on walkways. On rainy days or in snowy climates, stay indoors and organize sheds, condition tools and bookmark plant catalogs for your spring garden.
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Take advantage of the quiet season in the garden to get ready for spring planting and to map out projects for the upcoming year. On mild winter days, get ahead on chores like mulching beds, clearing perennials of dead stalks and spreading gravel on walkways. On rainy days or in snowy climates, stay indoors and organize sheds, condition tools and bookmark plant catalogs for your spring garden.
Check out our guide to get started on your home project
More on Houzz
Read more landscape stories
Browse outdoor photos for ideas
Find a landscape contractor
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With a dusting of frost over a muted winter garden, one’s eye is drawn to the different textures in the landscape. To highlight texture, choose a variety of plants with different growth habits, such as fine-textured grasses and sturdy-branched shrubs. For most climates, it’s best to wait until spring to plant, but winter can be the ideal time to make a plan and choose plant varieties.
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