Enhance the beauty of winter gardens!
Winterscaping is a crucial aspect of landscape design in areas that experience snowy winters. A garden without visual appeal during this season can seem dull and lifeless. To enhance the winter landscape, choose plants that add brightness and interest, turning the cold months into a celebration of beauty.
Vibrant Stems, Textures and Seedheads
Choose plant varieties that feature vibrant, colourful stems, lush evergreen textures, eye-catching berries, or attractive seedheads to enhance the beauty of even the gloomiest snowy days. Be mindful of the plant hardiness zones, ensuring that these resilient species can endure the cold while adding charm and character to the winter landscape.
For example, the striking crimson stems of Artic Fire Dogwood brilliantly pop against a backdrop of pristine white snow, creating a stunning contrast. Our native River Birch contributes to the landscape with its peeling, golden bark, which exudes warmth and elegance in the frigid surroundings.
The feathery brown seedheads of grasses bring a sense of movement and texture to a winter scene as they catch falling snow. The vibrant red-orange berries of Bittersweet Vine offer a charming display, drawing the eye and adding a splash of colour to the winter palette. Together, these elements create a winterscape that is visually appealing and brimming with character.
Tall, majestic evergreens, such as Blue Spruce, White Spruce, and White Pine blanketed in snow, transform a backyard into a winter wonderland. You don’t need a wide variety of evergreens to create winter interest; just a few carefully selected evergreen trees in the right locations can create a beautiful winter picture.
Winter Habitat
Designing a winter bird habitat in your backyard is becoming increasingly popular. With big homes on small lots, landscape designs tend to feature stonework with fewer plant materials, so little thought is given to the needs of local winter-staying birds. However, this doesn’t have to be the case. We can create beautiful landscapes while meeting the needs of our feathery friends. It is a matter of choice. Select plants that produce colour winter berries and seedheads that will stand out in a winterscape and provide much-needed food for winter birds. Many indigenous or native plants provide food for our winter winged friends.
Here are some easy-care, low-maintenance flowering plants for your summer garden and winter landscape:
Chickadees, cardinals, and nuthatches enjoy the seed heads of Brown-eyed Susans in winter. Round golden globes hold tiny seeds that are perfect for winter birds.
The summer flowers of Coneflowers turn into spikey brown seedheads in winter, attracting winter finches and chickadees.
In winter, tall black stems of Beebalm with rounded seed heads dot the landscape, providing seedheads for local birds.
The light beige feathery stems of Little Bluestem stand out against the white snow, providing seed heads for winter sparrows and juncos.
Summer Switchgrass provides winter cover and food for ground birds such as turkeys, doves, and songbirds. Its stiff stems are perfect for nesting materials. The tall beige stems sway in the wind, adding movement and interest during winter.
Red-twig dogwood stems stand out in the winter landscape, while the deep red berries persist into the winter, food for bluejays and cardinals.
Chokeberry’s small red and black berries won’t last long before winter birds eat them. Woodpeckers, blue jays, and game birds love these berries, creating a striking contrast with the tall dark stems covered in fruit against the winter’s snow.
Winterberry Holly is a deciduous shrub that serves as an important food source for winter birds, as its berries are high in fat. The dark stems with red berries contrast beautifully against the white snowy backdrop.
Staghorn Sumac produces red spikes with small seeds that winter birds, such as woodpeckers, sparrows, chickadees, and nuthatches, love. The soft, fur-covered stems resemble reindeer antlers, and the red seed heads stand out beautifully in a winter landscape. This shrub needs room to grow as it is a suckering shrub.
Winter gardens can be just as enchanting as your vibrant summer flowering gardens. The soft blanket of snow provides a serene, neutral canvas that beautifully highlights the vivid colours of bright stems, the rich hues of colourful berries, and the lush textures of evergreens. To truly capture the essence of this chilly season, it’s essential to choose a selection of plants that offer winter interest. In a location that endures five months of winter, crafting a breathtaking winterscape becomes not just a desire but a necessity, allowing nature’s beauty to shine through even in the coldest months.
Lexi Dearborn