Maximize your Winter Landscape with these 5 Landscape Design Ideas
Maximize your Winter Landscape with these 5 Landscape Design Ideas
No matter the season, you want your landscape to look impressive. During a Chicago winter, though, it is tough to keep this impressive look going. The gray skies, dreary cold days, and unpredictable snowfall prove challenging to someone who wants to keep their landscape lively.
While winter certainly brings its challenges, there is no reason your winter landscape can’t bring that brightness you seek. There are, in fact, many ways to liven up your winter landscaping and we are here to provide you with five of our top tips!
#1: Evergreens are a must!
Evergreens always offer a winter appeal because they provide year-round beauty to any yard. Needled evergreens, specifically, can add needed color to your winter landscape. Did you know that needled evergreens can have blue, green, or even yellow needles? While most typically think of a full needle-bearing tree, there are also evergreen shrubs like boxwoods and hollies that can offer even more greenery and bloom throughout the year, even in the winter months. An evergreen shrub, like a Southern Magnolia, holds its leaves all through the winter. There are also many colors and shades of green that can add an impressive look to your winter landscape.
#2: Get Fruit-Bearing Plants
There are various winter landscape plants that produce berries and other fruit even during the harsh winter months. The fruits from these trees can be orange, yellow, or even red. A great example of this is the Harvest Gold Crabapple tree that produces a bright yellow fruit that can brighten up any dreary winter landscape. Another great option is the Winterberry holly. Winterberry hollies lose their leaves but keep their berries, which makes for a wonderful winter display against the white snow or the green needled evergreens.
#3: Think about Beautiful Bark
Many people focus so much on the trees that they forget about how important the appeal from the tree bark can be. Plants with exfoliating bark, like the Paperbark Maple, can add a one-of-a-kind look to your winter landscape. The cinnamon-colored bark on the tree peels back and it reveals a new bark underneath it, making for a unique visual on this tree. Other popular tree bark options include the Red Twig Dogwood with its red branches or the Yellow Twig Dogwood with its bright yellow branches.
#4: WOW everyone with your Witch Hazel
Flowers in winter certainly do not sound like something you would see during January and February in Chicago, however, Witch Hazel, or the “Queen of Winter” does in fact hold on to its flowers late into winter. Witch hazel is a flowering shrub that holds onto its brilliant yellow flowers and also adds a citrus smell to your winter landscape. These bright flowers are sure to WOW even on the dreariest of winter days.
#5: Add in Ornamental Grasses
Incorporating ornamental grasses can add color and texture to your winter landscape. Adding in some of these grasses can offer shades of bronze, tan, and gold throughout the area to liven things up. When you plant them close to evergreens, they also add a nice contrast of both color and texture. Aside from the color and texture, the blowing grass adds movement to your winter landscape, and those gold and bronze hues catching the sunlight provide a true beauty to an otherwise quiet landscape.
