Landscaping Ideas For Winter
Byline: Roberta Stewart The Planter’s Palette As the trees begin to turn color and lose their leaves, it’s time to anticipate the coming winter. So often, a winter landscape is considered bleak and dreary. Instead, I invite you to look at your landscape a new way - with an eye for winter variety. Even during the coldest stretches of January and February, thoughtful landscaping can bring a treasure of interest. Consider four primary and overlapping focal points of your home landscape - foundation plantings, annual and perennial gardens, trees and shrub borders. Each of these areas can be used to provide enjoyable winter views outside your windows, create inviting entries and captivate passers-by. Landscape interest in winter comes in several forms. It can be created by the careful selection and use of evergreens - small and tall, needled or broad-leafed. It comes in the interesting outline of a deciduous tree or branching of a shrub, and in colorful or peeling bark. It is in the seed heads that capture the snow on sturdy perennials and the hips of roses grown fat on the stem. Carefully selected evergreens are a vital part of a winter landscape. The choices range from needled shrubs such as yews and arborvitae to towering trees such as pines and spruce. Broad-leaved (non-needled) forms include boxwoods, euonymus and hollies, as well as ground cover plants such as pachysandra and English ivy. There are even some deciduous viburnum, such as Allegheny, that keep their leaves until the following June. One of my favorite needled varieties is false cypress. One species, nootkatensis Pendula, lends both color interest and unusual form with its weeping character. For a small broad-leaved evergreen, there is a new option this year in Emerald Magic holly. It is a unique male, meaning there will be no berries, but its small, spined leaves shine and offer enough interest to warrant a closer look as an alternative to boxwood. When it comes to evergreens, however, too much of a good thing can be - too much! Instead of delight, an overuse of evergreens creates monotony and lack of focus. It is more interesting to combine a variety of deciduous shrubs and perennials with evergreens anchoring the winter look. There are sizes and forms to suit any need. Let’s consider form next. You will discover that every tree and shrub has its own unique character, waiting to be discovered in the nakedness of winter. A weeping form of crab apple, such as Louisa, should be set as a landscape focal point. It will add fun in both its dramatic outline and the persistence of fruit that catch snow and ice glazing after winter storms. Or, the winter aspect of the tree lilac, Syringa reticulata, is a broadly oval network of branches with delightful seed heads that hang on throughout the season. Hydrangeas, especially varieties with full heads of sterile flowers such as Limelight, Showhill or Annabelle, dry nicely to a caramel brown. Their fragile outlines add a lacy touch and hold caps of snow. So, too, dollops of snow transform the large rose hips left to mature on some of the hardier shrub and floribunda roses, such as Carefree Beauty or Bonica. A perennial bed doesn’t have to disappear under the snows of January. Form can be enjoyed, too, in select perennials that are left to gather snow. Don’t worry, there is enough time to clear spent flowers in early spring, when you are anxious to get out to your garden, but the soil is too wet to work. The tall, fat of butterfly bush, are eye-catching. Or, leave the full, shorter, rust-colored heads of sedum varieties such as Autumn Joy or Autumn Fire. And you will delight at birds, such as goldfinches that hang on the sides of echinacea stalks as they forage for seed. Ornamental grasses, such as varieties of miscanthus, will brown with the first frosts in October or November, but their “flowers” - the silvery seed heads that rise above the foliage - will catch the sun’s glow on even the coldest day while leaves sway in winter winds. Grasses can be a wonderful addition to foundation plantings, perennial beds or shrub borders. Let your imagination and a nursery specialist guide you through all the possible varieties to use. Don’t overlook the use of color and texture in the bark of shrubs and trees. Among the best known are the red-twig dogwoods. There are varieties that stay under 5 feet, such as Isanti or the variegated Ivory Halo, and those that will tower at 10 feet and taller, especially Cardinal and variegated Elegantissima. Many of these only gain their characteristic red when the sap drains in winter - a sure sign that nature wants us to use color year-round! Then there is kerria. Its arching branches form a thicket of lime-green against the white of winter. It is a shrub that will suit difficult dry shade spots, such as under a maple tree. When it comes to interesting bark, there are many options. The paperbark maple is one of several trees that offer exfoliating bark. It will stay relatively small, growing very slowly to a mature 20 or 30 feet. The peeling salmon-colored bark of the river birch, a tree growing to 50 feet, or the white and caramel bark of Crimson Frost will add character. Seven sons flower is a large shrub or small tree that also exfoliates. Or, use the smooth silvery-gray branches of serviceberry as a contrast. Euonymus alatus is commonly known as burning bush or winged euonymous because of its fire-red fall leaf color and ridged stems that add character. The stems are characteristically green with several brown “wings” running down the length of the branches. It usually is sold in the compact form - still a large shrub of up to 10 feet high and wide. As the leaves of autumn are raked away and the first frosts of winter set in, begin your season of “winter-watching.” Observe the landscape that you have for its interest and opportunities. You may find ways to add more variety next year and make your landscape a year-round delight. - Roberta Stewart is a member of the retail staff at The Planter’s Palette, 28W571 Roosevelt Road, Winfield, IL 60190. Call (630) 293-1040.
