Winterscaping
Consider adding evergreens, ornamental grasses and other interesting
features
to the garden for year-round appeal.
TEXT BY DAVE AND JUDY ROGERS
COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE VIERRA
Winter landscapes can be subtle and dramatic—and just
as vital as the summer garden. The structure of your garden
emerges, with the hardscape displaying more prominence. Pathways,
outbuildings, decks, brick patios, stone walls, hot tubs,
trellises and fences—unburdened of plant material—now
appear sculptural as well as functional.
Winter is a great time to check the bones of your garden and
to begin planning for changes or additions. Planning and dreaming
are half the pleasure of gardening. How does your home present
itself to the world? Drive down your street and check it out;
then drive down your driveway. Look out each of your windows.
Do you have a centerpiece to your landscape? Do you see a
distraction or even an eyesore? Is there the potential for
a new installation that will provide more year-round interest?
Do you need creative outdoor lighting? Do you have adequate
drainage? Is your hardscape appealing as well as functional?
Remember: winter will reveal your garden’s basics.
In the winter landscape, you may consider an outdoor chimnea
to add significance and purpose to the end of a walkway or
maybe a gazebo for carving stone in the summer and ice sculptures
during the winter. A small pond can be seductive in all seasons.
Colors are altered in the winter. The many shades of brown
can be as pleasing to the eye and as soothing to the spirit
as the myriad shades of green in the seasonal garden. The
browning foliage of ferns, the dried flower heads of astilbe
or “Autumn Joy” sedum, the spent blossoms and
tall, erect browns of phlox “David,” the architectural
form of the dried flower heads of yarrow, the spent flower
heads of “Herbstonne” rudbeckia, dried roses and
Japanese iris flower pods, to name a few, are all beautiful
and useful at this time of year.
Colorful berries from winterberry or skimmia attract your
eye as well as birds. Branches may catch blankets of snow.
Variegated tree bark reveals itself when leaves are gone.
Winter-interest plants such as Harry Lauder’s walking
stick and Chinese dogwood may be chosen according to their
leafless shape or for colorful bark as seen in red- or
yellow-twig dogwood. Birches have lovely fall foliage and
winter white bark. Weeping willows and weeping birches
are wintertime dramatic and can be pruned to keep them
in proportion.
DON’T BE TOO TIDY
The summer garden often comes to a sudden and messy end.
In an effort to have all neat and tidy before the first
snow falls, we often inadvertently remove nature’s protection.
Leaves falling upon themselves create a winter barrier, a
mulch to help protect against a freeze or damage from winter’s
drying winds. Certain leaves such as maple and beech are
light and crisp and do the job of mulching well. Heavy mulch
applied too early may encourage some critters to burrow in,
eat roots and destroy bark. Some plants, such as roses, do
need extra mulch and should be dressed with bark mulch or
straw after the ground is frozen. Beware of using seaweed,
which is normally good for the soil. It may invite deer for
a salt-lick feast.
Winter landscapes are not complete without an ornamental
grass garden. Grasses are lovely as they dance and wave
in the winter wind. They are spectacular in the fall and,
when dry in the winter, they sparkle with frost and capture
tufts of snow. They offer a unique effect in the normally
austere landscape. Ornamental grasses are available in many
wonderful shapes and in a variety of sizes. They are inexpensive
and easy to grow. They range in height from six inches to
14 feet and will become an impressive clump within a couple
years.
Do you see some bleak spots in your landscape? Movable,
weatherproof containers can be filled with boughs of conifers
or planted with ornamental cabbages. Transportable containers
can easily enhance a frosty garden.
Evergreens are often the backbone of the winter garden.
They come in all shades of green, from blue green to gold
green and may even change color in the winter. They are
useful barrier plantings, as they protect from wind, create
privacy and soften views. They are especially effective
when planted in a staggered fashion, in a variety of shapes
and sizes such as you might find in nature.
Rhododendrons
are nature’s thermometer. When temperatures dip below 35
degrees, the leaves curl and cup. When temperatures are in the teens, the
leaves curl in and hang like string beans. You can gauge the outside temperature
by the curl of the leaves.
Birds need our help during the winter. The cardinal,
chickadee, nuthatch, sparrow, titmouse and other New England wild birds
feast on available dried flower heads as plants begin to
offer up their seed for late fall and winter feeding. Birds
also require water, and their usual sources are often frozen.
A heater, purchased at a bird specialty store, can be placed
in the birdbath to keep the water from freezing and assure a flurry of
winter activity. Bird feeders add architectural interest,
as well, and are a rich and constant source of entertainment.
PRUNING TIME FOR TREES
Winter is the appropriate time to prune
most evergreens and many deciduous trees and shrubs. Plant
a variety of types to obtain an assortment of greens useful
for holiday decorating. Winter is also an optimal time for
major tree trimming or removal. Trees felled in winter are
less likely to hurt your lawns and gardens when the ground
is frozen.
 If you are establishing or updating your outdoor
lighting, winter is an opportune time to map out your needs.
Try using a portable spotlight with a very long extension
cord to predetermine the lighting effects you may be looking
for. It is worth the time, trouble and chilly fingers.
Don’t forget to install
extra outdoor outlets controlled by indoor switches to facilitate easy outdoor
holiday lighting.
Winter need not be a messy array of dead and dying plants
or a spotlessly clean garden area. Supported by evergreens
and artful hardscapes, the winter garden can be an artful
arrangement of certain flowers left to bring subtle delight
to the needy winter eye. Winter is the time to dream, expand your vision
and educate yourself regarding the beauty of the late fall/winter
garden. It is time to offer an extension of the gardening
season so that you may appreciate your gardening efforts
in literally a new winter light.
Dave and Judy Rogers are owners of Art in Green landscaping company in Brewster.
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