In the Garden
To increase the visual and wildlife appeal of the garden throughout the year takes planning. Every week, the garden brings something different to celebrate. Unfortunately, many plantings feature commonplace plants that are meant to look the same year-around with little maintenance.
For example, Boxwood. In order to have seasonal interest, we must strive to choose plants that work across multiple seasons. What this means is having colorful bark in winter, bright foliage in autumn, flowers in spring or summer, fruit any time of the year. You want a plant with more than one season of interest.
Let’s just take one plant as an example: Serviceberry, sometimes called Juneberry (Amelanchier x grandiflora). This shrub, or small tree, depending upon how or if you prune it, produces beautiful white flowers in spring. In summer, it has delicious fruit which makes the birds happy. In fall the foliage is brilliant. Choosing a plant like this not only simplifies the art of designing for continued seasonal interest, but also stretches the gardening budget. Ask yourself if you would rather have a flower blooming for two or three weeks in spring or a plant contributing for three-plus months of the year.
In our garden right now, there are loads of red and purple berries brightening the yard. Birds flock to the berries so if you are a bird watcher, you will have an added winter bonus.
Our woods are filled with the native witch hazel (Hamamelis Virginiana). We have two types. One flowers in November/December and the other in late winter. The flowers are yellow and come at a time when we are amazed and thrilled.
When we think about seasonal interest, we often put ourselves first. We should remember to consider how it can benefit the critters that live in the garden. Building a diverse seasonal palette can provide reliable habitat for bugs and other animals. For example, Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) offers yellow flowers in spring, yellow foliage in fall and red fruit. In summer, swallowtail butterflies love this shrub because it is the host for Swallowtail larva. You cannot go wrong by adding this plant to your landscape.
Winter is the time to plan for what is to come in our gardens. Make a list of changes you need to make and plants you need to add, as well as those you want to remove because they are no longer satisfying to you.
Happy New Year!