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How to create a beautiful winter garden

Gardens in wintertime need not be boring or drab looking with large expanses of brown soil. With just a little bit of thought you can brighten them up. This will make it a pleasure to look out of the windows and you'll feel encouraged to go out and explore even on the coldest or most miserable day, advises Angela Youngman

Check out your garden

Begin by checking out your garden. Even a couple of containers can make a difference. Where are the gaps? Which areas can be seen from the house? Do you want colour and/or fragrance?

Brighten up

Gardens can be brightened up quite quickly. Add some plants with brightly coloured winter stems - Cornus is a shrub that can be trimmed back every spring. The new stems grow up to five or six feet high, and depending on the variety can be brilliant orange, yellow or red in colour. These look stunning especially against foggy or snowy backgrounds.

Rosa Rubifolia is a tall shrub, which has beautiful soft red stems, which are not too prickly, too touch - and has pretty flowers in the summer. Corylus has pretty catkins hanging from branches in late winter. For a climbing plant, look no further than Jasmin Nudiflorum. The twining stems are covered in a host of tiny yellow flowers from November through to February.

Small is beautiful

Smaller scale plants for winter colour are easy to find. Try Perovskia, often known as Russian Sage. It will grow in any soil as long as it is well drained and in a sunny spot. In wintertime, the stems are silvery grey and very silky to touch. Cut them down in spring and fresh stems will emerge growing quickly to around five feet tall.

Lucky heather

If your soil is neutral or alkaline, heathers like Erica Darleyensis will thrive giving pink or white flowers from November to April. Shorter Erica Carnea varieties flower from January onwards - a very good version is Vivelli, which has dark red flowers set against bronze leaves. They look lovely tucked in corners or in containers.

Fragrance

Even in the depth of winter, it is still possible to enjoy fragrance. Choisa Ternata Sundance is a wonderful shrub that has vivid yellow leaves all year round. The sunnier the spot, the brighter the leaves. They are also gently fragrant, smelling of orange blossom. Hanamelis, better known as Witch Hazel, has lovely sweet smelling flowers in late winter; while winter flowering Viburnums come out in white or pink flowers in flushes over the season.

Colourful yellow or blue conifers will add structure and all year interest. Some may even change colour; Thuja Occidentallis Rheingold is gold in summer, copper in winter; while the spherical Danica is dark green in summer, bronze in winter.

Snowdrops, aconite and crocuses should not be forgotten. Even if you forget to plant bulbs in the autumn; garden centres usually have some in pots, which can be planted 'in the green'. They make a wonderful carpet underneath deciduous trees or in lawns giving successive waves of colour for around eight to ten weeks.

Early miniature daffodils such as February Gold can be added to the mix. Just remember to wait until the leaves have died down before mowing lawns for the first time in spring otherwise your chance of a similar display in successive years will be much lower.

This article was created: 31 October 2007.
This article was last edited: 5 November 2007.

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