Work to Do In Your Winter Garden

Winter isn’t the most active time in the garden, you can really see the bare bones of your garden’s structure but for some specimen plants, it’s their time to shine!

Tailor Made Flower Beds

A well-built flower bed is where the best planting scheme begins, no matter the time of year, raised timber or brick beds mean the soil stays a little warmer over the winter as it is higher up off the ground. Ideal for when water logging is a problem, not only will this make the maintenance of your garden easier, but it will also help your planting thrive. For spaces that don’t require raised beds, block edging is another great time saver. Lawn edges creep out over time and can begin to lose their shape. Block edges stop this by keeping the lawn and soil separate, a good defined edge really sets off any planting scheme behind it.

Attractive Bark

Trees form the skeletal structure of your garden. They bring height, encourage wildlife and can look incredible in the winter. Trees like Silver Birch, although they lose their leaves in the winter, with their striking peeling white bark they really stand out against a dull and dreary background. Tibetan Cherry is another winter tree must-have. After spring flowers and autumn colour leaves, shiny bright crimson red glows in the garden, bringing colour right through the winter.

Winter Flower and Fragrance

Fragrance might not be something you think about when it comes to winter, but there is a lot of flowering shrubs that carry perfume in their flowers in the wintertime, especially great for a front garden, catching the fragrance as you walk up to your front door. For a specimen shrub, Viburnum x bodnantense is a strong choice. This shrub grows a maximum of 2m in height and 1.5m spread, great to add height at the back of a border. It has a very long season of flower from autumn, right through winter into spring and will grow in any soil and in partial shade too! This universal shrub is an absolute must if you’re trying to achieve a full year of interest.

For Something Smaller

If you have a smaller space, Dwarf Sweet Box is worth your attention. This little shrub is not very well known but is used quite frequently by our specialist soft landscape designer. It’s small growing, evergreen, winter flowering and fragrant, seems to tick all the boxes, right? Lining a pathway with a row of Dwarf Sweet Box to create a low hedge will not disappoint. They’re reliable, glossy growth can even be planted in the deepest shade, but their scent is undoubtedly their biggest attraction.

Need help creating interest in your garden through the winter? Call our expert team on 0116 210 0760 today.