How are the ‘Bones’ in your Winter Garden?

“If your garden is pretty in the winter, then it will to be lovely all year long.’ This is what I was taught by my mentor, Martha Gray,  years ago.

To reinforce the point, when I asked a lecturer at a Virginia Society of Landscape Designers conference what he thought of photos where only plants were shown,  he responded, “Boring.”

Winter time allows you to see the ‘bones’ of the garden. Your garden spaces do not have the benefit of flowers and leaves. Flowers and leaves have their beauty, but the background strength of the ‘bones’ which give winter interest, is what makes the landscape strong. Think of leaves and blooms as the musical score, and the ‘bones’ as the bass, playing the rhythm in the background.

Take a look at your garden in these cold winter conditions. View it from different angles.   If you have an area that is vacant this time of year,  you may consider adding one of the following.

Smaller trees that have interesting bark color or texture.

These include the crape myrtle, ‘Paper bark’ maple, ‘Sango kaku’ Japanese maple, Harry Lauder walking stick and any ‘weeping’ tree.

Evergreens such as boxwoods, rhododendron, some viburnum and yews can be used as foundation plants.  Camellias with flowers of pink, red and white offer evergreen and color. ‘Little Gem’ magnolias, arborvitae and cryptomeria help add screening, as well as majesty to your space.

Perennials like candytuft, lenten rose, autumn or Christmas ferns, poets laurel, and Erica, a type of  heather, are evergreen and flower or get berries. Grasses have winter color and interest, but often they flop after a snow or heavy wind.

Ground covers like periwinkle, sarcacocca  and yes, liriope can add large swaths of green to the ground space.  The whole point of liriope is to be green in winter. Don’t let your yard service cut it back til February when new growth pops up.

Utilitarian accents include fencing, gates, arbors, benches, trellises, retaining walls, boulders and more.

Garden accents include birdhouses, birdbaths, globes, wind spinners, espaliered shrubs, and fountains made out of materials that take the cold.  All these can serve as focal points, objects d’art and add whimsy to the garden space.

I am attaching photos of  our more bizarre accents,  well as the more common.  I don’t have a lot of winter shots, but I hope these photos  give you some fun ideas.  Some of htese shots show numerous winter accents in the landscape.

Christie lives in Manakin Sabot , Virginia where she manages a 3 acre garden. Her blogs are written from her 35 years as a personal and professional gardener.