Any garden owner wants his islet of wildlife to please the eye at any time of the year. But in winter everything falls asleep under the snow. It’s much easier to create the scenery on the site even in such a low season for the garden than it seems.
Plant grass plants in the garden
Some types of plants retain their stems and leaves, which look good at any time of the year. Among grassy crops, these include cereals and reeds. The panicles and spikelets of Miscanthus powdered with snow will look spectacular. For the winter, you can not trim it, but leave yourself the opportunity to admire its magnificent beauty. But it’s still worth tying up the stems so that they do not fall apart in the snow. And remember that not all plant varieties tolerate wintering well without shelter. Some still have to hide. The most unpretentious and winter-hardy of Miscanthus is sugar-flowered.
Bright contrast against the background of evergreen conifers will create straw-colored stems of wild oats and rod-like millet.
Use interestingly shaped bushes
In summer, shrubs attract attention due to its lush crown, which can be given any shape. In winter, branches begin to play, which in the warm season were hidden under plentiful foliage, and in autumn merged with the general grayness around.
In winter, under a layer of snow, branches and stems become more visible, their drawing is well drawn. You can use this feature. Plant some shrubs with branches of an unusual shape. This has hazel Kontorta. Its branches are twisted into a spiral. And willow Matsuda they are very curly.
Plant plants with colored shoots
You can add bright colors to the garden in winter using plants with colored stems.
The serrated cherry has rich maroon shoots with transverse stripes.
White derain is a classic version for both summer design and winter design. Its bright red rods will bring dynamics to the asleep garden corner. In order for the plant to look magnificent and spectacular in winter, care must be taken in early spring. Branching is stimulated by trimming the third part of the old shoots flush with the ground.
Yellow paint will add debris derain. More precisely, its variety is Flaviramea.
Different varieties of Vitellina willow loom in the winter garden with orange, golden and red bark.
Take care of planting conifers and shrubs
Rarely, a decorative garden does without conifers. They perform different functions. Evergreen spruce, juniper, arborvitae and serve as a vegetable fence on the site, and as a source of natural antiseptics - volatile. In winter, these needle-like representatives of the flora remind us of summer days due to their greenery.
And if a tree or spruce grows in the garden, they will cope well with the role of the main New Year tree. There is no need at all to cut them under the very root, as the song says. It is much more interesting to decorate the Christmas tree right on the site.
However, not all conifers winter without shelter.
Plant evergreen or partially evergreen deciduous plants
Not only coniferous beauties remain green in the winter. Some hardwoods also have this luxury.
The huge paws of the leaves of the frankincense winter well without shelter. After all, the plant comes from Altai and has a good hardening. Periwinkle also retains the greenery of its shoots in winter.
Medicinal lavrovna can stay even in 25-degree frost. Although its ancestor, the laurel, does not tolerate snowy winters in the open ground.
Holly ordinary is considered a symbol of Christmas in the west. A plant can survive the winter only where there is no severe frost.
Rhododendrons, euonymus, some types of mahonia also remain wintering with green foliage.
Pay attention to plants whose fruits remain decorative
Saturated berries covered with snow - this contrast will add bright spots to the decoration of your garden. This element of natural decor will not require any investment and diligence on your part. The fruits of holly, barberry, cotoneaster, snow berry and some decorative apple trees look beautiful. The traditional option is mountain ash. However, its berries do not survive until the end of winter.
Remember that plenty of berries will attract many birds to your garden. This is not bad in itself. But only with strong attention the feathered berries will quickly end. Therefore, feed the birds with other goodies, and let the fruits remain for the decor.
Place winter feeders in the garden
Bird feeders are not only proof of your concern for nature. They can be turned into real art objects.
Interesting models are sold in stores, but you can make a manger yourself, decorating it in the form of a house with a fence or styling a Japanese pagoda. A simple and original feeder is obtained by gluing the cup to the saucer on the side.
Put decorative garden sculptures
A great decoration for the garden at any time of the year is garden sculptures and other objects that will look good on the site. There are many options for small architectural forms for the garden in stores, but with a little effort you can make sculptures yourself.
To decorate the garden, you can use seemingly unnecessary things, for example, an old bicycle, boots, a broken garden wheelbarrow.
But the winteriest option is ice and snow sculptures. Small figures can be made independently. Freeze water in a baking dish. Many silicone molds in the form of animals are on sale now. The sculpture can be tinted or highlighted at the back and put on some elevation (stone, bench), and then it will look more impressive.
Take care of garden lighting
In winter, with a short sunny day, you will not be able to admire your beautiful garden for long. So that in the dark you can see how your corner lives in winter, add lighting. Let it be not only functional, but also decorative. Instead of an ordinary light bulb, hang a beautiful vintage lantern, decorate the trees with neon garlands.
With good lighting in the garden in the winter it will be possible to arrange holidays and just family gatherings. For them, spot candles in beautiful colored jars are suitable. A bio fireplace will help create a unique and cozy atmosphere.
Use decorative and original winter plant shelters
Use decorative winter shelters. Their main purpose is to protect plants in the cold season, but with the help of skillful hands and a drop of fantasy, such shelters can easily be turned into interesting decorations for the garden.
It is possible to build figures from dense waterproof fabric. Then on the site you will be met by Santa Claus and the Snow Maiden or the white bear. Another option is to make a kind of hut around the plants. You can still decorate cocoons under the sheaves. It will not be difficult for craftsmen of weaving to make baskets from willow branches.
Having taken care of decorating the site in the spring, next winter you will get a bright garden that will delight the eye, contrasting with the plain snowy landscape.
