Your Landscape’s Winter Wardrobe

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Eva Monheim

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Photo Credit: Eva Monheim

The wonderful ruby red clusters of Viburnum dilatatum berries look like chandelier earrings hanging in the distance.

Just like assessing our winter wardrobes, we should take the time to inventory the winter wardrobe of our gardens. Good classic wools equate to the wonderful wools of evergreens, as needled pines, spruces and junipers add fine-textured warmth to the chilly winter landscape.

Dull, fine-scaled evergreens like American arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) provide great evergreen backdrops for deciduous accessories like the berried beauties of winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata), tea viburnum (Viburnum setigerum) or linden viburnum (V. dilatatum). And evergreen hedging and large, strategically placed individual evergreens can add protection from desiccating winter winds, as well as shield the more tender plants in your garden.

Non-needled broad- and small-leaf evergreens add a coarser texture to the fabric of the garden. And if the leaves are shiny – as they are with Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) – the garden will seem brighter thanks to their reflective quality.

Exfoliating bark is another characteristic that adds richness to the winter garden. Heritage river birch (Betula nigra ‘Heritage’), for example, has a papery, layered look. Placing these special-interest trees and shrubs relatively close to the house can add daily enjoyment when coming and going, or when just looking out the window.

Finally, late fall to late winter-blooming plants add the life that feels absent during that chilly time of year. Shrubs and low groundcovers can really give the winter garden this much-needed spark.

Warnings

When making plant selections for your yard, always check you state’s Cooperative Extension’s invasive-plant list. Some plants can become aggressive in some areas, and you don’t want anything taking over your garden!

Facts

Variegated leaves of the low-growing Honey Maid holly (Ilex ‘Honey Maid’) and the burgundy colored lustrous leaves of Oregon grapeholly (Mahonia aquifolium) add a luminescent quality to a dull garden.

Tips

When designing your landscape, consider an evergreen-to-deciduous ratio of 50:50, including groundcovers and small to large shrubs and trees. Evergreen trees look exceptional and help provide greater depth and richness to the otherwise stark deciduous surrounding.
Create a “blooming chart” to help you schedule blooming times, colors and fragrances throughout the year, so you can have an idea of how your garden will appear season by season – especially in winter.

Definitions

Deciduous: Woody plants (trees and shrubs) that drop their leaves every year in fall.

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