Winter is well and truly here and with it comes a cool beauty like a Hitchcock blonde, weaving her icy magic and seducing the lovers of winter with her shining diamonds and beckoning soft duvet of snow.

 I know most British people find Winter a drag and every time we get a snowflake, the cold air is marred by miserable faces and grumbling voices echoing their spells of disenchantment. But winter can bring magic and beauty especially at the moment when we are blessed with good old traditional Christmassy weather. 

And what better place to see that magic than in our very own gardens! This is the time that it pays to be a lazy gardener, leaving all those seed heads and dead perennial flowers means that you will have a winter wonderland of a garden when the frost finds them. Grasses, fennel, poppies, thistles, achillea, verbena – all make great canvases for winter’s fine art.

Shrubs and trees which carry berries are another great choice to create your winter wonderland – not only are they beautiful but they will also help the birds stay happy and fed throughout the hard weather.

For a little bit of colour try planting some mixed helleborus – these will glow like velvet jewels during the late winter and add a touch of mystery to the winter garden.

Winter flowering shrubs are another great choice – not only beautiful but often delightfully scented – creating a wonderful experience for a moonlit wander around your snow laced garden!

So next time you feel yourself about to moan about ‘the dreadful weather’ think instead of the beauty you can be a part of in either your own garden or a public park. Don’t shut the winter out – welcome her and she will welcome you with more magic than you’ll know what to do with!

-Jane

PS: if you have any questions about looking after your garden in the Winter or what plants to plant or anything like that, feel free to email us and we will do our best to answer them.