How to give your garden a boost of colour in those dull winter months
MANY people find that as winter deepens there are fewer things that they are able to do in the garden or the greenhouse, perhaps restricting themselves to making sure everything is secure and that there is plenty of bird food in the feeders.
Perhaps we should take stock of what winter-berry producing shrubs we have in our garden at the moment.
When we look out of the window everything looks quite bare. So perhaps we should be considering visiting plant sales in January and planning the season ahead, especially giving consideration beyond spring and summer. We can then spend time planting for all seasons so that when we lose the growth of summer and the radiant autumn colours we do not drop in to winter with the garden only home to deciduous shrubs that lose all their leaves.
The most traditional shrub I’ve mentioned is holly Ilex aquifolium – a robust shrub that will withstand snow, frost, rain and wind. It has a number of different types including variegated leaves that can add that extra colour to a garden. Also, with prickly leaves, it is ideal for bird nesting but not the plant to choose if young children are running around the garden.
It is a shrub that will grow in most situations and most soils except very wet soils so it would not be suitable for boggy areas. You will find this shrub in many gardens growing on its own or even as a hedge. It is also a popular shrub for shaping.
The berries appear over autumn/winter and, as mentioned earlier, if the summer weather is kind this gives a nice splash of colour.
If you are wanting to plant for berries then best to have a male and female variety and, once planted, it is best not to move.
A common shrub is ivy, an evergreen climbing plant that is ideal for a dark wall or shaded area and gives that evergreen colour all year round.
It is a hardy plant that will overwinter well producing nice green foliage. Again variegated varieties are available that are brighter green than the traditional darker green associated with ivy. Holly and ivy are more associated with the traditional winter shrubs but there are other shrubs of similar hardy nature such as cotoneaster that give very good leaf colour, nice summer flowers followed by deep red berries over autumn and winter, which are excellent for birds.
Pyracantha is a good shrub especially red column orange glow. Symphoricarpos, commonly known as snow berry is another easily grown shrub giving nice coloured berries over autumn and winter.