Your winter planting plan
There’s no need to tear apart your garden to brighten it up for Christmas. Just select a few spots where a telling plant, tree or shrub could make a real difference to your outlook and become a part of the general scheme of things as the year progresses. Winter structure
Look at the structure of the garden to see what’s lacking when the majority of plants are devoid of leaves. There is no need to give your garden the air of a cemetery by planting too many dark evergreens, but those that offer interest and structure are a really good addition. Site them where you can see them in foul weather without leaving the house, as well as in the far reaches of the garden to tempt you to explore. Look for trees and shrubs that will offer a bit of bulk, even when your garden is on the small side. Choose those that are capable of being clipped, if space is really at a premium. There are plenty of smaller shrubs that will also do their bit where space is limited.
5 essential plants
➊ Clipped yew cones, or goldenvariegated Irish yew, which is naturally columnar in shape. Plant Nov-Dec or Mar H x S 3m x 3m
➋ Betula ermanii Plant Nov-Jan or Mar H x S 20m x 12m
❸ Choisya ternata ‘Sundance’ Plant May-Sep H x S 2.5m x 2.5m
➍ Ilex x altaclerensis ‘Golden King’ Plant Nov-Jan or Mar H x S 6m x 3m
➎ Euonymus ‘Emerald ’n’ Gold’ Plant Nov or Mar H x S 1m x 1.5m
Christmas sparkle
Some plants offer particularly spectacular livery, whether by virtue of their brightly variegated leaves or their spectacular flowers. Tuck them in among your beds and borders to act as Christmas highlights where otherwise the outlook would be dreary.
5 essential plants
➊ Acer palmatum ‘Bi Ho’ Plant Sep-Nov H x S 2m x 2m
➋ Iris unguicularis Plant Dec-Mar H x S 50cm x 50cm
➌ Cyclamen coum Plant Sep-Oct H x S 8cm x 10cm
➍ Helleborus x hybridus Plant May-Sep H x S 45cm x 45cm
➎ Hedera helix ‘Gold Heart’ Plant Oct-Dec H x S 8m x 5m
much beefier and more at home in urban surroundings than the countryside.
Holly has the double whammy of having evergreen (or ever-variegated) leaves and scarlet, orange or yellow berries, depending on the variety, but do remember that male and female flowers are carried on separate plants, in most cases, and you will need a male and a female variety to ensure berry production. Like yew, it responds to being clipped and can be easily accommodated in a small garden.
Sarcococca, or Christmas box, has small glossy leaves and whiskery white flowers that are sweetly scented. It may not always bloom in time for Christmas, but can be relied on to fragrance the New Year. I wouldn’t be without it.
Keep your seedheads
Don’t be overly keen to cut back those border plants whose seedheads will not only look statuesque when dry or rimed with frost, but will also offer sustenance to birds and insects. Grasses in particular are valuable here. Wait until February before your tidy-mindedness gets the better of you and you feel the urge to shear them to the ground.
On terraces and patios, doorsteps and balconies, handsome pots and tubs planted up with plants that look good at Christmas have a vital role to play. When you are visiting the local garden centre to stock up on Christmas decorations and presents, step outside into the plant sales area and take a look at what is on offer. Christmas plants are not just the poinsettias and Indian azaleas for indoor pleasure; there will be a range for outdoors, too, from winter-flowering pansies and violas to heathers and Christmasflowering hellebores.
Trees offer stature the whole year round and the silver birch in its brighter-barked forms such as Betula utilis ‘Jacquemontii’ positively glows in the winter sun. I wash mine each winter as far up the trunk as I can reach to remove the green slime that builds up and reveal the pristine shimmering bark.
There are coppery tints on view with Acer griseum, the paperbark maple, and Prunus serrula whose trunk and main branches carry that glorious dark amber paper that peels off to allow the wintry sun to shine through it like a stained-glass window.
If space is limited, enjoy the coloured bark on diminutive Japanese maples – Acer palmatum ‘Sango Kaku’ with orange and pink young stems, and plant bushy dogwoods like Cornus ‘Midwinter Fire’, whose luminous tones will astound you. Plant the dogwoods in rich, moisture-retentive soil and cut them to the ground in March to encourage the production of brightly coloured young stems.
Amid all this newly acquired interest, find yourself a place to sit and admire it, wrapped up in a woolly-pully and nursing a hot mug of tea or coffee. You’ll soon realise the benefits of having a garden that provides its very own brand of festive spirit. □
The glorious dark amber paper peels off to allow the wintry sun to shine through it like a stained-glass window