It doesn’t get any cozier than winter. It’s the season for sipping hot beverages, snuggling under blankets and getting lost in books. But it can also be a hard time for your landscaping. Grass, plants and flowers can go dormant, much to the sadness of home gardeners. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy any color during the colder months.
There are ways to protect your lawn and garden before the frost arrives. You can also undertake many fun projects during the winter to help spruce up your property and liven the mood. But if you’d rather stay warm and toasty inside, you can always let landscaping professionals take over. They’ll have your yard looking its best, even as the temperatures drop.
How to Protect Your Lawn and Garden Ahead of Winter
The winter months can be harsh to the foliage on your property. That’s especially true if you live in a chilly area with snow and ice. While you can’t put scarves and jackets on your plants, there are ways to protect them against the cold. Here are some tips that can help you out:
Keep Your Lawn Clean
No one wants to brave the cold to rake leaves and tidy up their lawn. But forgoing these tasks can choke your grass and prevent new growth. Worse, your lawn could wither altogether. It’s easier to prevent grass from dying than to revive it.
Aerate and Fertilize
Most plants will enter their dormant phase at the first frost of the season. In the fall before freezing temperatures, you can aerate your lawn’s soil and fertilize it before this happens. That way, the grass has all the necessary nutrients before the ground gets icy. The grassroots will have plenty of reserves during the colder months and will be ready to thrive come the spring.
Add Mulch
Adding two inches of mulch to your landscape beds will do wonders for the plants during the winter. It will act as a protective layer, helping retain some of the soil’s warmth and moisture. It will also lessen soil erosion, helping keep shrubs, plants and flowers healthy.
Prune Plants
Winter is the perfect time to prune your plants, especially toward the latter part of the dormant season. That way, plant wounds won’t have to endure the brunt of winter. Soon, it will be spring and time once again for new growth. Your pruned plants will be ready to push leaves out.
Tending to your lawn may not be your cup of tea during the winter. If you’d rather stay by the fireplace, let a landscaping professional perform these maintenance tasks. With professional care, your yard will flourish despite the cold.
Winter Landscaping: Tips and Tricks to Add Life and Color to Your Home
Is the dreary weather dampening your mood? You don’t have to stare at bare branches and gray skies throughout winter. Here are some winter landscaping tips that can bring life and color back to your lawn:
Go for Evergreens
While most plants are ready to slumber in the winter, evergreens will continue to work hard. They’ll fill your yard with cheerful colors like blue, yellow and gold. In addition, they will stay luscious and beautiful even if other trees are shedding their leaves.
Plant Perennials
Planting evergreen perennials can save your yard from looking somber. You’re in luck if you live in the South because you can choose from an abundance of them. Dianthus, hellebores and ornamental sedges will bring your yard to life, even if it’s cold and gray outside.
Try Rock Gardening
If winters in your area are too frigid for plants to bear, it might be the best time to try rock gardening. It’s a unique way to spruce up your property. Play with pebbles, rocks, boulders and other hardscaping materials to create an artistic landscape design.
Invest in a Fire Pit
There’s nothing like the warm glow of a fire to bring a space to life. Add a fire pit to your winter landscape so you and your family can enjoy the outdoors. You can deck your backyard with outdoor seating and additional landscape tree lighting for an even cozier and comfortable time.
Not sure what to do with your lawn this winter? You can always consult a landscaping specialist. Given their skills and expertise, they can turn your yard into a winter wonderland.
What Plants to Plant in the Winter?
If you love having a beautiful garden, you can plant winter-friendly plants. Various shrubs and flowering plants will reward you with beautiful leaves and blooms, even if the temperatures aren’t ideal.
Here are some examples of plants that thrive in the winter.
Pansies and Violas
These flowers may look delicate, but you’d be surprised by how hardy they are. They can survive even the harshest winters, adding vibrant splashes of color to your yard. Pansies and violas grow the best in full sunlight with regular watering and good drainage.
Delphinium
You can use the latter part of winter to plant delphiniums in your garden. Come summer, you’ll have elegant blooms on towering stalks. Able to grow as tall as six feet, they’re sure to catch your neighbors’ attention. They will last all summer long with frequent fertilization and watering.
Decorative Kale and Cabbage
Decorative kale doesn’t taste great in salads, but it does look beautiful in the garden during winter. They come in eye-catching hues and love the cold, making them the perfect centerpiece in your winter garden. Plant them in the sunniest area in your yard for optimum growth.
Poppies
Poppies are a rare breed because they need the cold to thrive. Plant them in the fall or winter, and you’ll soon have fiery red blooms to brighten your garden. Give them as much sun as possible and plant them in well-draining soil for the best results.
Primrose
Primrose is another winter-hardy plant that produces colorful blooms in cold weather. You can plant them in February either in the ground or in pots. The key is to use well-draining soil. It also helps to plant them in partial shade and water them regularly.
Cyclamen
With their heart-shaped leaves and vibrant blooms, Cyclamen can brighten up container gardens even in the middle of winter. These plants come in all shades of pink, red and white. They are also one of the few winter plants that can tolerate some shade. While they can’t take a hard freeze, they can be utilized in pots or covered with frost cloth when temperatures dip below 30 degrees.
Vegetables
You don’t have to wait until the spring to harvest vegetables from your garden. Radishes, carrots, English peas and kale do well even during the colder months.
Landscaping professionals know which plants will do well in your garden, considering the winter conditions in your area. If you don’t take well to the cold, you can leave the tasks of planting and maintaining to the pros.
Mulch Landscaping: Why You Should Do It in the Winter
Mulching the garden is a popular activity in the spring, but it’s just as necessary in the winter. Laying down a fresh layer of mulch can benefit your garden greatly.
The mulch will act as an insulating barrier between the soil and air, ensuring your plants don’t freeze. It also helps retain the moisture from the warmer months, helping the roots stay healthy during the winter. Not only that, but mulch also provides plenty of nutrients and keeps diseases and pests away.
To apply mulch around plants, shrubs and trees, start by clearing all weeds. Next, water the ground thoroughly and lay down a layer of your chosen mulch, ensuring it’s at least two inches thick. Brush any mulch covering the plants’ stems and finish up by gently raking the surface.
Let the Pros Help With Your Winter Landscaping Needs
Maintaining a bright and cheerful yard is challenging when the winter breeze dries everything in its path. But luckily for homeowners, landscaping specialists can get your lawn and garden to thrive even during the harshest months.
ABC Can Help You Create the Yard of Your Dreams
As a homeowner, there are so many things you have to stay on top of, and the laundry list of tasks never seems to get any shorter. ABC Home & Commercial Services can make it so you have one less thing to worry about. We can take on all your lawn care needs without you having to lift a finger. Our pros can do it all, even recommending drought-tolerant plants, so your yard stays vibrant through dry periods.
