Creating Winter Interest

Featured in this Show

• Beautifying Your Garden In The Off Season

  Winter gardening might seem a little out there, but your garden in the winter doesn’t actually have to be a sad desert of dead plants and mulch.

  The off season is a great opportunity to become a landscape artist, says Jeff Epping, director of horticulture at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison.

  “When I do my design work, I always think about the dormant season,” Epping told WPR’s “The Larry Meiller Show.”

  Epping shared some of his tips for making your garden look great even though most everything’s dead.

  
  Mark Anderson (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

  Winter Is The Time To Shine For Grass

  Ornamental grasses are tough and do well in the fall and winter, Epping said. Now is not the time to prune.

  “During the rest of the season they’re just kind of there doing their thing, but in the fall and winter they look fantastic,” since they stand in a landscape with not many other plants, he said.

  The same goes for seed heads on perennials, fruiting plants like winterberry and shrubs like red twig dogwood.

  “Leave all that stuff up — no sense in cutting it back,” he said.

  
  Photo courtesy of Jeff Epping, Olbrich Botanical Gardens

  Gardens Aren’t All About Plants

  Even if your garden is full of ornamental grasses and shrubs, things may still look a little bland.

  Fall and winter are great times to experiment with treating your garden like an art exhibit. A blanket of snow on benches, garden chairs, a fire pit, a birdbath, a few statues or an ornamental urn can be beautiful.

  When it comes to furniture, Epping recommended that you go for natural materials, like wood and stone, that blend in well.

  “You don’t want it to look like a circus. But I’m kind of a purist; I’m a plant guy,” he said.

  This brings us to our next tip:

  
  Photo courtesy of Jeff Epping, Olbrich Botanical Gardens

  If You Can’t Grow Plants, Make Them

  In the fall and winter, Epping puts his terracotta pots away for the season and brings out the concrete, stone, and reconstituted limestone pots that can handle harsh weather.

  Then he stuffs them with chicken wire held in place by a brick or stone, and voila: he has a palate to make plant arrangements that will look good all winter long.

  Epping likes to use evergreen branches, white pine, juniper, boxwood or spruce as a base, then fill in the rest with ornamental grasses and fruiting plants like viburnums and crabapples. During the holidays he throws in some lights, as well.

  Winter arrangements are great because they’re dual purpose: you can get some pruning done, and repurpose materials to turn your barren garden into an aesthetic delight.