Decorating with natural materials is a popular trend in the cool, dark months of winter.
This easy decorating method adds beauty and color to outdoor spaces throughout the holiday season. Many of us have large, attractive planters that house tropical or annual plants in summer. Rather than leaving your beautiful outdoor planters empty all winter, place evergreen trimmings and colorful branches into the pots. This method works well for dressing up containers with existing plants growing in them too.
Simply placing colorful garden trimmings into a nice planters can look great. The arrangement can literally last for months, looking naturally lovely and adding color. Then, simply throw the arrangement in your yard debris when you are ready to move on to something new.
Recommended planters to use
Use only weather-proof outdoor planters, that can handle being left outside all winter. Planters must be thick enough and sealed to successfully weather freeze/thaw cycles without cracking. Non-sealed terra cotta pots can absorb a lot of water in our winter season, then crack if subjected to a hard freeze. All planters must have sufficient drainage holes in the bottom as well.
Best plant materials to dress up your winter planters
Great sources of attractive plant material include colorful branches and berries pruned from plants like red and yellow twig dogwoods and various hollies, and trimmings from other available evergreens. From conifers to magnolias, almost any evergreen plant you have is a good candidate. In my landscape, winter storms often blow down fir and spruce boughs and decorative cones that are perfect for dressing up winter planters.
Ideal planter placement
Planters can be placed along walkways, grouped near entryways, near the garage, and ideally visible from key windows inside your house. Even if you don’t go outside, you can still enjoy the view.
Contact us for more winter interest
If you would like to add more plants with winter interest to your garden, contact Blessing Landscapes today to talk with one of our landscape professionals.