When snow falls, your yard can look like a flat, blank piece of paper. Use these tips to add interest.
1) Include hardscapes
Hardscapes are the manmade, permanent garden features in your garden. An elaborate arbor or simple trellis can add height and structure.
2) Choose winter-proof ornaments
Statues and other garden ornaments that don’t collect water should be able to survive winter. (Fountains and bird baths need to be taken in because water expands when it freezes, which can produce cracks.) The copper ornament in the photo looks good with or without snow.
3) Leave perennials standing
Don’t cut down stalks in autumn. Perennials such as astilbe dry in place and look as lovely in the garden as they do in a dried arrangement. Tall grasses can add motion when the wind is blowing. And plants such as black-eyed Susans can offer food to overwintering birds.
4) Choose plants that add winter color
Look for evergreen trees and shrubs—green is a color, too! Heuchera can hold it leaves all winter, and there are many varieties with different colored leaves. Berries add a pop of color, too.
You can get more great gardening tips at Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com, the online gardening magazine for Western New York. It’s free to subscribe!
Photo courtesy Connie Oswald Stofko