12 Steps to Create a Stunning Winter Garden
Many of us tend to spend spring and summer getting our gardens looking spectacular but once the rain, frost and cold sets in, we abandon our gardens until the sun is shining again. You don’t have to only enjoy your garden during the milder months, it is possible to create a stunning winter garden that will make you smile every time you glance out the window! The good news is that London winter gardens are easy to create at home. There are shrubs that flower in freezing temperatures and tough bedding plants that will grow and continue flowering throughout the cold winter months. Many plants suitable for the winter weather will be available at nurseries and garden centres.
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Planning and preparation
Before actually stepping foot in your garden it is important to do some research and make a plan. You need to choose the right plants. Start by researching and selecting the best plants for your climate and garden size. Deciduous trees and shrubs, evergreen trees and shrubs, conifers, and broadleaf evergreens are all good choices
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A suitable location
Select a location within your garden that usually catches the sun and with good soil drainage to reduce the risk of root rot and so the area doesn’t get water-logged. Of course, you can use pots as well and have them spread around the garden.
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Prepare the soil
Prepare the soil, and add multipurpose compost and fertilizers if needed, one of the most important points is to ensure that there is adequate drainage so that the soil will not become waterlogged. If you plan on using pots these can be prepared and filled with multi-purpose compost at the same time.
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Make use of evergreens
Consider adding evergreen shrubs, trees and conifers as a backdrop for your garden in Harrow. These maintain their leaves all year round and will keep your garden green. Shrubs are the backbone of any winter garden; they offer structure when many other plants have died or not yet bloomed. In addition, flowering shrubs provide fragrant blooms during the winter which emit a beautiful scent. Witch hazel is also a winter fragrance that gives off a fantastic scent.
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Use winter-flowering plants
Include winter-blooming flowers like hellebores, witch hazel, and pansies to provide colour. Look online and research winter-flowering plants, there will be a selection for you to choose from. Polyanthus is a popular plant that blooms in colours red, pink, yellow, white and blue. Primroses are also hardy plants for this time of year. Whatever plants you choose make sure you plant them in multi-compost and with good drainage.
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Use hanging baskets and window boxes
All of your hanging baskets and window boxes which are a stunning riot of colour during the spring and summer lay empty over the winter when they don’t need to be! Choose winter flowering plants such as violas and pansies and your pots and baskets will look as good as they do in the summer! Pansies are cheap to buy and very resilient; they are the perfect purchase to fill your winter garden with colour.
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Add textured foliage
Create interest with textured foliage, such as dogwoods or curly willows, and add mulch to retain moisture and protect roots.
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Use mosses and lichens
Add some different textures with mosses and lichens. Mosses and lichens can add a softness to the winter garden, as well as add colour and texture.
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Make a colourful impact
You can add some drama to your garden with some naked stems. Dogwoods are firm favourites for dramatic colour. Mid-winter these plants display an intensive range of rich colours. You’ll get a glimpse of luminous greens, intense reds and oranges as well as a stunning dark purple.
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Trees with unusual barks
An unusual touch to your winter garden is planting a tree that possesses an unusual winter bark. Once the leaves have fallen and the trees are bare, the bark will be a spectacular site in the garden. Tibetan cherry has a polished copper bark and the west Himalayan birch shows ghostly white trunks.
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Protect your plants and trees
Protect tender plants from harsh winds and heavy snow with burlap screens or tree wraps. Create a sheltered area. If your winter garden is exposed to cold winds, create a sheltered area by planting a wall of evergreens or adding a windbreak. Dogwoods grow best when grown in abundance together and they prefer to be in the sunshine.
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Encourage wildlife and birds
As well as plants the presence of colourful birds can also provide your garden with a charming aesthetic. Plants bearing berries attract birds as well as add more colour to your garden in Ealing. berry-bearing hawthorn, honeysuckle and ivy are good candidates to fill your garden with berries and beautiful birds.
Obviously, not all these tips are practical for all gardens, but you can pick and choose the ideas you like most and we guarantee the result will be spectacular.