Winter is one season that many gardeners may forget when designing their gardens. Winter offers beauty in a variety of forms and textures. We spoke with Lori Heiden, English Gardens West Bloomfield Garden Coach, about our complimentary garden design on winter interest. 

A: Large Specimen Evergreen Trees

Large Specimen Evergreen Trees include Blue Spruce, Japanese Umbrella Pine, Limber Pine, Norway Spruce, Serbian Spruce and White Spruce. “Evergreens are perfect for providing both height and interesting texture,” explains Lori.

There are three types of landscaping textures that come from a plant’s foliage. They can be coarse, medium or fine. English Gardens complimentary design, “Winter Interest”, provides many different textures to prevent monotony.  

X:  Upright Sedum  

Upright Sedum, such as Carl or Neon, are ideal for providing both fall and winter interest. Placing them at the forefront of this design draws the viewer in.

The option to prune Sedum is a personal one. “I don’t cut back my tall Sedum. When the blooms dry they provide wonderful winter interest,” says Lori.

C: Short Evergreen Shrubs

Boxwood, Euonymus, Dwarf Spruce, Sawara Cypress, Globe Arborvitae, Holly, Juniper and Spreading Yew are included in the short Evergreen Shrubs. These plants provide the basic green color and texture. Lori says, “I particularly love Holly for the colorful berries it provides.” Be sure to plant female Holly for berries and at least one male Holly plant to ensure good berry production.

Scattered Evergreen Shrubs provide a connection to the other side of this design and fill in holes with color.

Z:  Ornamental Grass

“This is another great perennial you don’t have to cut down. I allow the plumes to dry and leave them up for winter interest. They also provide a great habitat for birds,” says Lori. Varieties of grasses include Erianthus Ravennae, Maiden Grass and Switchgrass.

D: Specimen Dwarf Evergreens

Dwarf Evergreens provide color and texture at the forefront of this design.

Varieties of Specimen Dwarf Evergreens include  Globe Blule Spruce, Dwarf Alberta Spruce, Hinoki False Cypress, groundcobver Blue Spruce and Gold Mops Cypress.

G: Deciduous Ornamental Trees

“My favorite deciduous ornamental tree is the Serviceberry. It shines in winter. The silvery bark provides winter appeal and the slender branch structure is beautiful when it catches snow,” exclaims Lori. Other varieties include Cherry, Crabapple, Dogwood, Japanese Maple, Japanese Snowbell, Magnolia, Pear, Purple Plum, and Redbud.

The placement of this tree successfully balances the large evergreen tree on the opposite side.

N: Wet Area Plants

Plants that will thrive in wet areas in your landscape include Callicarpa, Dappled Willow, Redtwig Dogwood and Viburnum. Viburnums are particularly ideal for this location as they often produce berries during fall and they last long into winter. Leaving berries on these plants will provide food for traveling birds. “A unique variety of Viburnum is Blue Muffin. It produces striking blue berries in late fall,” explains Lori. 

“The complimentary designs we offer are great starters for aspiring gardeners,” Lori reminds us. “I always show the design to customers and then offer additional plants that would work well this particular design.”

“Helleborus are tough perennials that bloom from late winter until early spring,” says Lori. Although they’re considered shade perennials, Helleborus benefit from partial sun. Additionally, they are very rabbit and deer resistant. “Another great addition to this design is Hydrangeas. When snow falls on their dried blooms, it’s really quite pretty.”

Other plants in this design can be prone to deer browsing, such as Arborvitaes. To prevent this, apply the I Must Garden deer repellent.

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