Winter has arrived and gardeners are starting to prepare for the cold season. The bright and beautiful colors of your once vibrant landscape dissipate as your yard transforms to a palette of white and gray. Fret not because despite the dreary color of your lawn, there are some things you can do to brighten up your stark winter landscape. These simple tricks will add life to your landscape during the colder months.
- Create a Fireside Retreat
A nice fire draws visitors to its light and warmth. Create a spot in your yard or on a patio to place a fire pit, which can be used to invite holiday guests outside if the weather permits. Circle your fire pit with chairs draped with warm wool blankets and share s’mores around the fire for dessert.
- Add Pops of Color with Flowers
Camellias and hellebores are staples of winter gardens. Plant several kinds so you’ll have plenty of different colors on hand to brighten up the inside of your home. Another great winter flower is the pansy. They deliver lots of blooms over a long period of time and they come in a wide variety of colors.
- Add Lighting
Cast some light on your outdoor spaces and you’ll tend to use them more in the dark days of winter. Make sure your fixtures are appropriate to the style of your home. Position landscape lighting to focus on interesting trees or charming paths leading to your front door.
- Plant Winter Shrubs
Red cornus and hollies add a nice contrast of color against the graying winter landscape. Be sure to clip branches for a festive pop of red in your holiday decor.
- Add Stone Edging
For a refined touch, add some stone edging around flowerbeds and shrub areas, this can be a great way to add some design and eye-catching attention to your landscape. This will also reduce water run-off and weed growth, giving you less to landscape maintenance to tend to in the cold temperatures.
- Embrace Color
Pull out your paintbrushes and get to work. Paint your fences for a bright pop of color against the graying winter light and landscape. In the spring, your budding plants will stand out against these colorful hardscape elements.
- Go Evergreen
Evergreens are a relatively easy way to give yourself winter color, and they have the added benefit that you can string lights on them. They’re available in many colors such as yellow, blues, and all colors in between. On top of that, evergreens just make good design sense and make a great addition to a flowerbed.
- Include Hardscaping
Often homeowners overlook the aesthetic benefits of hardscaping, particularly in winter landscapes. Add some drama to the landscape with an arbor, trellis, bench or maybe even a simple statue.
- Include Interesting Bark
Add trees with interesting bark. Ornamental trees that have really visually distinctive bark will end up adding interesting detail to a bare winter landscape. A couple examples are dogwoods and birch trees, which both include attractive texture and color.
- Include Berries
For pops of color and attracting birds to your yard, bushes with berries are an excellent choice. Crabapples hold their little fruit and they make a great addition to a winter landscape. A holly with berries is also really beautiful and adds a nice contrast with the bright red color.
If you would like some help brightening up your winter landscape this season, then consider hiring a professional Landscape Management company. Here at Mansell Landscape Management, we offer year-round landscape management as well as seasonal color programs. Contact us today for more information.