According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, landscaping is “the process of making a garden or other piece of land more attractive by changing the design, adding features, planting trees, etc.”
You will notice that this definition does not designate a particular season for the activity, and yet somehow, when we think about landscaping, we very infrequently picture it as a winter pastime.
Why is this so?
Nearly all plants—whether they are growing indoors or out in the garden—go dormant in winter. Like sleep for human beings, plants are deeply affected by the earth’s rhythms. Dormancy allows them to get some much-needed rest so they can emerge recharged and ready to grow and thrive when they are ready.
As winter approaches, the days get shorter. But plants are smart and resilient. They sense that the cold season is coming and know that if they keep trying to actively grow during the winter, the water stored in their stems, leaves, and trunks would freeze and cause them harm. Instead, they protect themselves by slowing their roll and conserving their energy for warmer days!
Just some fun #plantfacts!
But this does not mean that winter spells the end for your landscape—far from it! There are many ways that you can beautify your home exterior while it is obscured by snow. So, without further ado, here are some awesome tips curated by the Tree Amigos team for making your surrounding area look amazing during the winter months:
By incorporating complementary trees and shrubs like evergreens, winterberries, hollies, or coral bark, you can make your landscape pop under those sheets of snow.
In addition to evergreens, HGTV suggests integrating populating your winter landscape with colourful, eye-catching trees like the Coral bark Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’), the Japanese flowering cherry (Prunus x yedoensis), and the Boxwood and Yews for their evergreen beauty.
Bob Vila suggests using lighting to highlight structures and create winter focal points. This, he notes, is especially effective when used in otherwise dark and dreary corners of the yard.
In particular, he suggests imaginatively integrating string lights even after the holidays to create an upbeat atmosphere— so you can hang them from trees, place them around the porch, or set them in a decoratively glass lantern!
Crafting your landscape around certain focal points allows you to draw attention to areas you would like to emphasize while concealing areas you would rather not. It can also maximize the impact of your design features, provide structure, and unify your overall space.
The Gardening Know How blog states that there is one golden rule when using focal points: less is more. Crowding an area with objects can undermine the unity of your space and create a tense and confusing atmosphere. When the eye is drawn to many items at once, unable to rest on a single object or plant, it eliminates the value of creating a focal point in the first place.
In their view, carefully selected objects—especially when used in combination with plants—can bring a sense of balance and harmony to your outdoor space.
Since the eye is naturally drawn to lines, you can use them to guide the eye to particular focal points in your space. Departing from the hard lines on your Tree Amigos patio or outdoor kitchen, you can begin to visually divide the space into sections and proceed to lead the eye to particular objects—a gazebo, pergola, water feature, or garden wall, for example—using landscape design.
If you have one of our many Tree Amigos design features, a strong, complementary landscape design is the best way to show it off!
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If you are ready to elevate your landscape in preparation for next winter, contact Tree Amigos by phone at (905) 468-9557, or e-mail questions to info@treeamigoslandscaping.com. To request a quote, use our easy budgeting tool here to secure an immediate estimate with the option to bundle!
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