Add Winter Interest to your Outdoor Space

The view from your window doesn't have to be dreary and barren! There are many things you homeowners can do to add visual interest to your yard for the winter months. With a little imagination and planning, you can actually enjoy looking out your window this season!

Landscape Elements

People often overlook winter-hardy plants as a viable option to add bright colors to their planting beds and instead opt to merely regret the passing of summer and fall color. There is no need to wish away the winter when there are such plants as Winterberry Holly, Heavenly Bamboo, Witch Hazel or Snow Roses to bring your landscape back to life:

Holly can make a sturdy and colorful hedge. Its strong green leaves and bright red berries are festive throughout the cold seasons.

Witch Hazel is a small tree that produces an explosion of long-lasting fragrant, yellow blossoms in December.

Hellebores (also known as Christmas or snow roses) produce plentiful white, pink or red blooms as early as January.

The semi-evergreen, delicate foliage of the Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina Domestica) shows different colors every season, turning bright crimson in winter.



You can even bring the warmth and beauty of winter plantings closer by creating container plantings for your deck or front porch--a decorative urn filled with dogwood branches, rose hips, milkweed pods, sedum, hydrangea and ornamental grasses will brighten your patio all season long!
Bare branches are a common sight during winter and typically ignored as a subject of interest. However, the bark and branches of many trees and shrubs can bring unique beauty of their own to your garden when their foliage is no longer hiding it from sight. Consider the bark of various trees and shrubs as an interesting focal point in the garden. It may be thick, thin, smooth, colorful, textured or a pleasing combination:

Crape Myrtle may be a deciduous tree and bare for now, but its mottled gray/brown bark adds texture and interest.

The branches of the Red Twig Dogwood, a shrub, become red in winter, providing a brilliant splash of color to the winter landscape.

River Birch is a handsome, remarkably hardy tree that grows up to 50' tall. Its beautiful, multicolored, exfoliating bark makes it a distinctive presence in the winter landscape.

Let trees with unique textures or shapes enhance the winter landscape by placing them nearby standing structural elements or by planting colorful shrubs near the trunk.

Hardscape Elements

Any standing structural element in your yard or garden could be considered the "bare bones" of your landscape. If these hardscape elements are laid out strategically and implemented skillfully then they will enhance your landscape regardless of the season. Elements such as outdoor fireplaces or water features become more dramatic without the flashy foliage to steal the spotlight. Less extravagant features like arbors, pergolas, and stone walls can give your eyes something pleasant to focus on amidst the snow and ice. Even strategically placed boulders add dimension to an otherwise flat landscape! Since such hardscape features are more permanent elements in your yard, they require thoughtful planning and design. With an effective hardscape plan that creates "good bones", the beauty of your landscape will be independent of the weather.

An experienced and knowledgable landscape designer will keep the winter months in mind while designing your master plan to ensure a landscape that is attractive in all seasons. Even if you can't necessarily enjoy the time spent outdoors during these months, it does not mean that your space has to be an eyesore. Schedule a consultation and have a landscape design professional analyze your yard while it is barren so that he or she can get a clear view of the space at its most basic state.