As you’re looking around your yard now that the snow has fallen, you might be thinking about making some changes before next winter. Landscapes can be somewhat bleak if the yard becomes flat land when winter arrives. The hardest part of the year on people and their landscapes can be the same season: winter. Turning your yard into a winter feast for the eyes can make it a worthwhile scene to look at, be in, or take pictures of on a snowy day. Take a look at the way your yard looks now – it’s a great time to reassess things and begin planning for next year.
Many yards have evergreens and conifer trees to add some winter interest to the landscape. While they may be the most popular or typically planted trees and shrubs, there are others to consider. Red twig dogwoods can be dramatic in the winter months. Besides the beautiful bark they produce, they grow extremely tall so they show up above the snow drifts. Some of the plants that get disqualified right away are knocked out of the running because they simply aren’t tall enough. They have to be tall enough to stand up and out of multiple inches of snow to be noticed to add some contrast to the flat land.
Adding some wonderful plants to qualify the landscape as a winter wonderland can be found using some simple criteria. If plants and shrubs offer some of these, they are worth of being considered further for winter landscape interest:
-Bark has an unusual finish or texture, bark has color
-Berries that are red or another color that attract the birds
-Branches that look beautiful when snow rests on them
-Has foliage that is evergreen
-Offers an interesting branch structure, delicate, thick, etc.
-Branches are interesting in the way they grow.
Some trees and plants to consider adding to your landscape would be viburnum, serviceberries, birch trees, winterberries, yews, plume grass. One of the real winners in winter is cranberry viburnum. In the fall the foliage changes from red to purple, and these shrubs have beautiful red berries that attract the birds in the winter and serves as a real eye catcher in the snow.
