Winter Landscaping Tips & Ideas
Although winter can bring a beautiful, snowy landscape, the cold means that most plant life is gone for the year. And no plants and flowers paired with brown grass make for a bleak, depressing yard. As a property owner, you may even wish for snow to cover up the dreariness of your landscape.
If you’re looking for ways to spruce your yard this winter, Design One has your back. Here are four easy winter landscaping tips you can practice even when temperatures dip below freezing.
1. Finish Hardscaping Projects
Late fall/early winter is a good time to finish that hardscape project you’ve been putting off. Retaining walls, rock gardens, wooden decks, and patios are all projects you can finish in the early winter before the ice storms and blizzards hit. Additionally, winter is the perfect season to plan if you still need to start a hardscaping project. Because there are no plants, you can better see how potential hardscaping elements will fit into your existing landscape.
2. Install Hardy Plants
You can plant many shrubs and trees between November and February; most trees and shrubs have relatively high survival rates due to their ability to lie dormant until spring.
Another landscaping task you can complete in the winter is “dormant seeding.” Dormant seeding is usually completed in the late winter before March. Even if snow and ice are on the ground, you can still broadcast new seeds.
Lastly, you can plant an attractive variety of winter-hardy foliage in the fall; these plants will survive winter and even bloom in spring. Winter-hardy plants we recommend include:
Red Sprite Winterberry
If you miss the vibrant colors of summer flora, this plant will brighten up any gray winter day. The Red Sprite Winterberry is a cheery bush that sprouts bright red berries and dark green leaves. You can also cut a few sprigs from the bush and bring them inside to add natural color to your home.
Sedum Matrona
The Sedum Matrona, sometimes called Stonecrop, is a beautiful, drought-tolerant bush that can grow up to two feet tall. This easy-to-grow bush flaunts pink flowers, reddish stems, and purple leaves in the spring, summer, and fall but turns a beautiful golden brown in the winter. The Matron would make a lovely winter companion to the Red Sprite Winterberry bush.
3. Add Décor
If you’re not interested in adding more plants to your landscape this winter, you can always install realistic, fake evergreens that you can decorate throughout the season. Synthetic evergreen trees and shrubs are ideal for busy home and commercial property owners who want an attractive lawn throughout all seasons without the maintenance needs of living plants.
4. Mulching
Lastly, when landscaping in winter, remember that mulch adds aesthetic and functional benefits to plants and their root systems. Mulch helps insulate plant roots from hard freezes while embellishing dull areas of your landscape. Place mulch around shrubs and trees in the winter to retain moisture for deeper root systems to access and as a way to prevent damage from mowers or weed eaters in the spring and summer.
Spruce Up Your Landscape With Help From Design One
Do you want more winter landscaping tips and ideas? Reach out to Design One today! Founded over 30 years ago, we’re Michigan’s top commercial and residential landscaping design company. From deck builds to retaining wall installations to beautiful brickwork, we can handle a wide range of landscaping and hardscaping projects. If you have a project in mind or need help designing your winter landscape, fill out our online form today to request a free consultation.
