Finding magic in a winter garden
I love a garden in winter, stripped back to its bare essentials, a study of structure and texture, backlit by milky sunlight, transformed by frost.
Structure in a garden is key – if you get the bones right, the rest will follow. I always imagine how a garden will look in winter as part of the design process, creating a space that will give pleasure in the darkest months and then build onto the framework. In the winter, flower colour is less key, the play of contrasts and textures comes to the fore.
Here I share nine of my favourite trees and plants for a winter garden, but which also offer so much for the rest of the year.
When starting out on my first garden I was obsessed by trees and how they looked through the year, but especially in winter. I visited winter gardens near and far, took notes and far too many pictures. It is no surprise that the trees I fell in love with then, are still my favourites.
Acer griseum – paperbark maple
I love its rich peeling chestnut coloured bark that glows in the winter when backlit by the sun. But it is a great looking tree for the rest of the year too, especially in autumn when its foliage turns fiery red.
Prunus serrula – Tibetan cherry
Another striking tree, its older bark peels away to reveal a younger dark red bark layer like highly polished mahogany – amazing in the sunlight.
Acer davidii ‘Viper’ – Pere David’s maple
Its green and white snake-like bark glows when lit by the sun, especially against a dark background. I like the foliage too, copper-pink in spring it fades to a deeper green, before turning orange in autumn. So much from one tree.
I love to use grasses in a scheme to add texture – they layer so well – plus deliver movement and sound.
Anemanthele lessoniana – pheasant’s tail grass
A whoosh of fine green arching foliage with autumnal tints of orange and red, this semi-evergreen grass moves beautifully in a breeze and stays full through the winter. A fantastic contrast against Acer griseum.
Carex oshimensis ‘Everlime’ PBR – Japanese sedge ‘Everlime’
A hard-working evergreen sedge that forms year-round lush mounds of lime-edged bright green foliage. Tolerant of part shade, it offers great ground level texture.
Cenchrus ‘Red Head’ previously known as Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Red Head’
A fine sight in summer when it erupts in a fountain of fresh green foliage and reddish-brown bottlebrush flowers. In winter it fades to pale buff but stays upright, shining out against darker foliage.
And so, to my last group – mmm how to describe them? Well, for me they bring an architectural element to the winter garden and then a little bit more.
Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’
Long flowering, its large creamy white heads fade initially to lime-green then to a milky shade of coffee in early winter, staying upright throughout. Held atop cinnamon stems, the flowers provide a contrast of form but perfectly blend with the winter palette.
Astelia ‘Silver Shadow’ PBR
A dramatic evergreen with bold silver spear-like foliage, it just shines against the coppers and dark browns of the winter garden. Kapow!!
Helleborus – hellebores
What’s not to love about a perennial that flowers in winter and spring – helping early season pollinators – combined with bold leathery green foliage, a great contrast to softer textures.
