Ideas for a Beautiful Winter Garden

Add Structure to your Garden

Simple structure. Maybe even a hint of formality. An example of this could be a low Box hedge around a small simple rectangle of lawn, which looks stunning, especially with a bit of frost outlining the edges of the Box leaves. Simplicity itself, but lovely.

One of the easiest way to incorporate structure into your garden is by using evergreens – whether that be hedging, topiary or evergreen shrubs within borders. There is a wide variety available to suit your garden space. To add a little more interest, consider variegated varieties such as Holly (Ilex) and Euonymus, or the coloured leaves of Heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica).

But evergreen plants used on mass can be rather monotonous, so you do need plenty of variation – in leaf colour and form, and texture – for example an evergreen lacy fern planted next to a variegated Holly. Or maybe the tassles of a Garrya elliptica against its own leathery leaves.

Don’t forget that deciduous plants also have a lot to offer when it comes to structure. Bare stems and outline of deciduous plants can provide an architectural highlight, for example: Cornus controversa, Japanese Acers, Viburnum plicatum and Euonymus alatus.

Add Colour

Think about adding more winter colour to your garden– this could be from the berries of Holly, Cotoneaster or Pyracantha.

Colour can come from the bark of deciduous shrubs and trees such as the many varieties of Dogwood (Cornus) with stems in reds, oranges and yellows. Tibetan cherry (Prunus serrula) has lovely shiny chestnut coloured bark that gleams in the winter sun.

However, my favourite winter highlights are the plants that give a beautiful floral display. As a bonus, many have a lovely fragrance – not something we normally associate with winter! I personally love Witch hazel (Hamamelis) as a winter highlight with its strongly scented, yellow, orange or red flowers on bare stems. It has an open habit, so does need room, but if you have the space for it, it will not disappoint.

There are also a few perennials and bulbs such as Hellebores (Helleborus), Lilyturf (Liriope muscari), Snowdrops (Galanthus) and Cyclamen that can give you a great splash of colour when planted in groups.

Welcome Wildlife!

And last, but by no means least, this is the time of year when birds flock to gardens for food and water. And you can design your garden to encourage a wide variety of winter birds. Watching them at your feeders and stripping the berries off plants, is always very special. If you’d like to find out more, read our post on attracting birds to your garden.