Plan for Winter Plantings
Dean Novosat
Part four in a series
It’s hard to think about winter when our gardens are in full bloom and the vegetables are ripening on the vine! But we must keep winter in mind when we are planning our landscape. Afterall, we have to look at our landscape all year long, including winter. (Unless, of course, you are fortunate enough to be able to move to warmer climates in the winter or live in a climate that is tropical all year long!) But for most of us, we have to contend with four seasons and the life cycle of our landscape.
So when you are planning your landscape, keep in mind this life cycle of the plants you choose to add to your landscape design. Some plants, like flowering trees and shrubs look their best in Spring, others reach their full beauty in Summer, others still attain stunning and vibrant color in the Autumn, and yet, some evergreens look beautiful in the Winter, offset by a striking snow-covered landscape.
Add plants to your landscape that offer a variety of looks in different seasons. Don’t plan your landscape with plants that all reach their peak of beauty at the same time. For example, a bed of perennials will provide a rainbow of color all summer long, but in the fall and winter, you will have to contend with a big empty space in your landscape. The same holds true for evergreens. While evergreens look beautiful in the winter-white of the colder months, they don’t offer much in the summer.
So, try to choose plants for your landscape that have different focal points for different parts of the year. Look for plants that may keep red or orange berries through the winter months, or that keep a beautiful bud head through the winter for a variety of shapes. You can also postpone dead-heading some of your flowering plants until the end of winter so you have some visual interest all winter long.
Just don’t be afraid to experiment. Remember, this is your landscape. Use your creativity! And if something you’ve tried doesn’t work, try something else! You can always move a planting somewhere else and try something new.
About the author: Dean Novosat is an avid gardener and landscaper. He has transformed many boring yards into beautiful landscapes. He has several websites including http://www.the-garden-doctor.com and http://www.dr-landscape.com.
The latest information and news on Gardening:
Yahoo! News Search Results for gardening
Jeff Ball: Ergonomic hand tools are tops when gardening (Detroit News)
It occurred to me this past week, as we were putting our gardens to bed for the winter, that in the past year Nancy and I, unintentionally, set aside virtually all of the hand tools we had in the shed for the relatively new line of gardening tools put out by the Radius Co.
O'Neil: Castle tour in Scotland unearths common gardening bond (Times Herald)
Foulis Castle, in the Highlands of northern Scotland, gave me insight into Scotland's clan history and life today.
Sound Gardening: Put the garden to bed (Greenwich Time)
Time to end the gardening season: The leaves are finally down, so you can decide which ones should stay in your garden, which get mulched to turn into compost, and which -- already composted -- get put back on those beds and borders.
Gardening: Be proactive: Protect your trees this winter (The Star Press)
Do you have young trees planted in your yard or at your business? If so, beware of sunscalding or frost cracking injuries that can affect the health and aesthetics of the trunk of your tree.
Tropicalia: Edison & Ford Estates to host garden market (The News-Press)
If you've tried gardening in Southwest Florida after a lifetime of Northern training, you've probably learned that things are a little - well, a lot...
Spring blossoms for the holidays, thanks to a little gardening magic (New Orl...
For home gardeners, some techniques are well within reach
With These Activities, Gardening Need Not Take a Holiday (Washington Post)
Here are some upcoming holiday and horticultural events for November, December and January. They're free unless otherwise noted. Call ahead to see whether registration is needed.
Garden Notebook Nov. 15 (Journal Inquirer)
For a technophobe like me, it has been astonishing to discover how much I have come to rely on the Internet as a source of gardening information.
What's on Monday's WAVY News 10 Midday (WAVY 10)
-Gardening expert Dabney Morgan will live in our studios to take your questions about winterizing your yard. The phone lines open up at 12:30, and the number is 673-5420.
New varieties for food growers (Bangor Daily News)
According to All-America Selections, an organization devoted to promoting new flower and vegetable varieties with superior garden performance, there is a trend in gardening toward edibles. People are interested in growing their own food.