10 Ways to Brighten Your Winter Landscape

by Kim Toscano

1. Add a welcome splash of color on even the coldest days with winter-blooming plants like camellia, hellebore or daphne.

2. Blades of grass and perennial seed heads add texture and motion to winter gardens.  Wait until spring to cut them back.

3. Berries look their best set against a fresh dusting of snow.  Add winter color with hollies, pyracantha and viburnum.

4. Overseed warm-season lawns with a cool season grass such as fescue, rye or bluegrass for vibrant green all winter long.

5. Mahonias are magical in winter with evergreen foliage and golden winter blossoms followed by bright blue fruits.

6. Brighten the winter landscape and provide lasting structure with variegated forms of your favorite evergreen shrubs.

7. Use colorful bark to add interest when blooms fade.  Try red dogwood, coral bark Japanese maple and coppery birch.

8. Keep birdfeeders filled and hang suet feeders to encourage colorful feathered visitors in your garden all winter long.

9. Plant a succession of winter bulbs like snow drops, winter aconite, Cyclamen coum and crocus for season-long color.

10. Structure is important to winter landscapes.  Add interest with the unique form of weeping trees and trained evergreens.

 

Category : Lawn & Garden
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