Eco-Friendly Landscaping Tips for Winter
/Eco-Friendly Landscaping Tips for Winter
You can enjoy your garden throughout the year – not just during the warmer months. Winter is a season too, and despite the cold and rain, there are a couple of things you can do to make your garden enjoyable, says Bighorn Rentalsteam.
If you are one of the few willing to brave the cold, then here are some tips that can help give your landscape a bit of winter flair.
Tip #1: Choose four-season perennials.
You want to choose perennials with evergreen foliage. These will keep their foliage all year round and provide structure to your garden. These include Candytuft, Creeping Phlox, Creeping Myrtle, Chinese Fringe Flower, Daphne, Winter Heath, Andromeda, Mountain Laurel, and Rhododendrons.
Ensure you read the plant label and find out whether the plant has evergreen foliage, so you can see it throughout the year.
Tip #2: Choose trees with interesting or colorful bark.
Using trees with colorful or textured bark can break up the monotony of a snow-covered yard. These trees will make your landscape attractive even after leaves have fallen off.
You have plenty of options to consider. Some of the bark beauties to consider include American beech, Kousa dogwood, Shagbark hickory, European hornbeam, Paper birch, River birch, Japanese maple, Paperbark maple, and Trident maple.
Most of these become even more attractive as they mature over time. When planting them, consider sitting them against a backdrop of conifers or evergreens which will help show off their bark.
Tip #3: Pick plants that bear fruit in the winter.
There are many trees and shrubs that produce berries and fruits during the cold weather. These plants can help bring color to your dull, white and wintery landscape.
Popular choices include hawthorns and crabapples. Hawthorns are tiny trees that produce flowers in spring and bear fruit in the fall. They come in many shapes and sizes, with some species growing as tall as 30 feet.
Crabapples are usually planted for their colorful flowers. These can grow to full size of anywhere from 8 feet tall to 40 feet tall. They vary in color from deep red to yellowish-orange.
Tip #4: Consider planting bulbs.
Plant some bulbson the boundary of your garden beds. Ideally, you want to plant them at least 6 weeks before hard, ground-freezing frost kicks in in your area. As a general rule of thumb, plant them when nighttime temperatures are within the range of 40- 45 degrees.
Some of the top winter flowering bulbs include:
Iris reticulata ‘Cantab’
Narcissus ‘Cedric Morris’
Galanthus ‘Magnet’
Crocus sieberi ‘Violet Queen’
Eranthis hyemalis
Tip #5: Trim trees, shrubs, and hedges.
Certain plants like daisies, peonies, and hostas, are dormant during the winter season. If you have these ones in your yard, it’s advisable to prune them. Because they are not active, pruning them won’t have any effect on them.
You don’t even have to worry about the new growth that might die during the cold winter months.
You can also safely prune any deciduous or evergreen trees you might have. Unlike other garden growth, these can handle pruning well.
While pruning is essential to having a healthy landscape, it can also be rather harmful. If you end up cutting the wrong branches, you might kill the plant altogether. You only want to focus on trimming dead or falling dead branches.
If you are not that sure about your skills in this regard, then consider hiring a professional to do it for you. They have the skills and knowledge to do the job professionally.
Tip #6: Winterize your watering systems.
It’s common sense, right? Probably not so much, apparently. Each year, hundreds of property owners get stung by bursting pipes when the water inside those pipes freezes.
To winterize your outdoor sprinkler systems, you need to compress air through the system to push any accumulated water.
Tip #7: Fertilize the lawn.
Late fall or early winter are the best times to fertilize your plants. So, before the first freeze, give your lawn some serious fertilizing to provide your plants the much-needed nutrients during the cold winter months.
Ideally, you want to use fertilizers that are rich in potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus.
Tip #8: Don’t neglect watering grass and shrubs.
You want to continue watering your yard even when the weather gets cold. Plants just need water during winter as much as they need it during any other season.
If you fail to keep your hedges, lawns, and fruit trees hydrated during winter, it can result in a multitude of issues. Among these issues is increased susceptibility to disease.
There you have it. 8 tips for an eco-friendly landscape during winter. Doing them will keep your property’s grounds looking good and will set you up for success once spring finally comes.
