The Winter Garden

My love affair with gardening began when we bought our very first house. The cheery, bright red geraniums that the previous owners had planted immediately tugged at my sentimental heartstrings, and our little fixer-upper felt so "homey" right away. I was smitten!

Since then, I have designed, hard-scaped, and landscaped all of my home's gardens, with Hubby and I doing all of the work ourselves. This spring I'll be ripping out and re-designing garden #4!

I am so passionate about gardening now! I've learned a lot along the way, and would like to share some of my gardening knowledge here with you at The Blessed Nest.




Let's start at the very beginning....
....ok, not at the beginning, but how about where we are right now.
Smack dab in the middle of Winter.
What? You don't think there's much to do with the garden in Wintertime?!

Actually, Wintertime is the perfect time to really study your garden.
There's so much to see! Or, then again, maybe there isn't.
Most people plan their garden for gorgeous blooms in the Spring and Summer, but
give nary a thought to the bare, Winter months!

If you'd like to have some beautiful interest in your own Winter Garden, here are some things that you can do:

• Add trees with beautiful shape. The bare branches become like a living sculpture!

• Some trees and plants have lovely bark that either peels attractively (birch trees, for example) or has a pretty color.

• Some plants have colorful berries and seedheads that also may feed local wildlife, plus give you lots of bird sightings!

• Tall grasses can take center stage this time of year, even covered with some snow.
  

• Evergreen trees and shrubs add year-round life, color and texture, things that are often missing in Northern winter gardens.

• The architectural framework of your garden is most important. Things like: fences, potting sheds, stone or brick edging, bird houses, bird baths, benches, & arbors, for example, will give your garden year-round structure and interest.

{This is my old garden in NC. Notice how this little seating area looks in late Spring:}

{and how the same area looks in Winter:}

Thanks to the fence, stone path, bench, evergreens, pretty branches of the rose bushes, and bird feeder (cropped out of winter pic, but it's there!) this seating area looks just as charming covered in snow as it does with blooming flowers surrounding it!

This section of my garden wasn't left bare, there was several things I purposely added there for year-round interest!

If you want to start small this Winter & make a big impact,
then how about planting some evergreen branches, long bare branches & colorful berries in a pot near your front door? Or add one in the back yard where you can see it from a window!


Take notes of your garden now and when Spring comes, you'll know what changes you'd like to add in to make your garden look beautiful all year long!!

I think I'll begin a little weekly series. What do you think? Even if you think you have a "black thumb" now, you can learn some easy & fun things along the way!