Although we spend more time outdoors the rest of the year, it is still nice to have attractive views from our windows in the winter!   We also want our house to look good in the winter, and on the occasional warm day we may want to go for a walk around the yard.

A well designed landscape will look good at all times of the year, so what can we use to enhance our winter landscape?

Hardscaping refers to elements in the yard other than plants, and these are important in the winter months.  Well located objects such as sculptures, natural walls, waterfalls, rocks and rock gardens, can add winter interest.

Many plantings can also look great in the winter, here are some ideas:

Highlight some large tree trunks with uplighting for dramatic night time views.

Plant groupings of tall ornamental grasses, and Red or Yellow Twigged Dogwoods.

Use Hollies for berries for the holidays, and for months afterwards.

Place low growing evergreens around the house (and also in the flower garden!), and don’t forget dwarf Blue Spruces and Golden False Cypresses for different colors.

Plant small trees like Paper Bark Maple, and Stewartia for interesting tree trunks.