Cold play Protect your garden from the winter chill

WITH A LITTLE PLANNING AND SAVVY LANDSCAPING, YOU CAN PROTECT YOUR GARDEN FROM THE WINTER CHILL

IT’S THE CLASSIC image of a winter garden: frost coating a tree’s skeletal branches and imparting a glimmering shine. But while some plants thrive in icy conditions, for others it means a fight for survival. The intense cold damages cell walls in tender plants, often killing their leaves and shoots, and sometimes the entire plant. Most coastal areas are protected by the sea’s warmth, but for southern inland regions, it’s a regular risk. Our tips can help your plants survive the winter.

plant perspectives

Restricting your garden to plants that cope well with the frost needn’t be limiting. Garden expert Paul Bangay has designed some of Australia’s best cold-climate gardens. “Frost areas allow for a much larger planting palette – one that is often restricted in warmer areas, such as Sydney,” he says. Some of our best garden plants flourish in cold winters, including herbaceous perennials, roses, wisterias, iris and lavenders. Many come from regions that naturally have hot, dry summers and chilly winters. David Glenn, of Lambley Gardens and Nursery in Victoria, points out that some plants need frosty weather, including various fruit trees, snowdrops, true crocus and tulips, while others perform differently in frosty and warm conditions. “Many plants with frost-hardy roots might flower for only three months a year here as opposed to 10 in warmer zones, but they will be much more spectacular,” he says.