Geoff Hodge made a welcomed return to our club this month with his talk Beating the Winter Blues. A very informative evening explaining how we can bring colour and interest to our gardens in winter. Over five years of research has proved that being able to retreat to a garden all year can help our mental wellbeing.
Planning our planting is a key point and not randomly buying plants with no idea of where to put them. A plant will not thrive in the wrong position, too sunny, too shady or wrong type of soil. They will sulk and not thrive.
Design the garden so that the interest can be visible from inside the home. Evergreens are a great way to avoid that “brown” look of the garden in the winter months. There are many varieties of conifer with differing colour and form.
Suggested plants-
Ceanothus Zanzibar has a variegated leaf.
Silver leafed plants such as Lamium Maculatum White Nancy has a silver blotched foliage and prefers partial shade. Great ground cover.
Pieris , a plant of many varieties, has all year interest.
Witch Hazel Jermyns Gold has a deep yellow flower with a good scent. Mulch well.
Daphne . The earliest flowering variety Darjeeling. They do not thrive in dry conditions preferring some shade.
Mahonia. Make a bold show of yellow flowers which the bees love, then the berries follow which the blackbirds enjoy. Adding pots with colour to the patio.
We certainly don’t have to look out in mid-winter and think everywhere looks dreary there are plenty of shrubs and flowers to brighten the garden.
