Gardening Tip of the Month

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Choosing Perennials for Winter Interest

With fall fast approaching and winter on its heels, it is hard not to think about the upcoming changes in your landscape and gardens.  Instead of thinking about winter in a negative manner, think about the wonderful possibilities your landscape and garden have for winter interest.  There is still time to do some end of the year landscaping with plants that will perform well in the cold winter season and will look great too!

Great perennials for winter interest include:

• Evergreens- As the name implies, these bushes provide texture year-round, keeping their needles throughout the warm months and the cold months, as well.  Some varieties include junipers, spruces, pines, arborvitaes, holly, and even boxwood.

• Woody perennials- Any woody perennial will retain its branches throughout the winter season, even though it may drop leaves.  The branches add another design element to the landscape, nicely contrasting with evergreens.  Additionally, if the plant forms seed pods, do not prune them back, so they can further add interest.   Some varieties include caryopteris, hibiscus, azalea, lilac, and butterfly bushes.
• Ornamental Trees- Whether the trees are deciduous or evergreen, ornamental trees are fantastic for winter interest, especially if they produce seed pods or berries.  Like the woody perennials, the deciduous trees may lose most of their leaves, but the branches still add a nice linear element to winter landscapes.  Some varieties include crabapples, Japanese maples, dwarf spruce trees, and weeping cherry.
• Ornamental Grasses- Most ornamental grasses, big and small, have sturdy stems that will last throughout most of the winter.  Grasses are in their prime during the fall when they are blooming, but instead of cutting them back before winter, let the foliage and the plumes add height and texture to the garden.  Some varieties include: Karl Foerster, Hameln, or any of the Miscanthus grasses.

• Groundcover- There is a wide range of groundcover that is extremely versatile, providing color in the warmer months and retaining much of that color in the colder months.  Varieties include ivy, pachysandra, and euonymus.

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