I grew up on the Canadian prairies, spent a decade in the relative warmth of Toronto's southern winters, and have since moved to sub-arctic Yellowknife. I missed winter's crystal beauty. Our next move is back to the Canadian prairies so winter will be a part of my life for a long time to come.
In researching prairie garden design, I often read plant descriptions that included details regarding the plant's appearance into late fall or early winter. I then began to think about garden design with winter's beauty in mind. When the Canadian prairie winters last so long, it seems vitally important to have beauty in your garden even - or especially - in the dead of winter.
This spurred my purchase of
The Garden in Winter by Rosemary Verey which was published in 1988. This book has gorgeous, inspirational photography as well as many beautiful descriptive paragraphs. This book is a must purchase if you need to learn to love winter - or if you already do.
"If your garden looks good in winter,
you belong to a select band capable of bending nature to its will" - Verey
"I began to realise that the structure of my garden is even more important in winter than in other seasons, because the bones become apparent and the eye is not distracted by beguiling planting. So the framework of my garden had to be set in winter. Paths, walks, hedges, allees, vistas, all would determine its form. I also had to realise that winter's beauty - clear and spare - is quite different from the freshness of spring blossom, the lushness of summer flowers or the richness of autumn leaves" - Verey
The key to winter garden design, according to Verey, is to view each plant, tree or shrub as it would appear each season which is more demanding at the onset but also more rewarding overall because doing so offers a garden that can be enjoyed year round. Planning a year round garden requires a new appreciation of plant beauty in all its forms - leaf, berry, flower.
"Planning the garden to take into account of winter requires an overall framework and ground plan, as well as a planting scheme. The framework is provided by the vertical elements - hedges and walls and fastigiate trees - and the ground plan by paths, border shapes and lawns. These are the permanent feature that remain more or less the same each season of the year, but whose character is more apparent during hte winter, when colour distracts less. This is the structure of the garden and it must be considered for its effect in summer as well." - Verey
Verey discusses how to plan and enjoy the winter garden with all of one's senses even the surprising ones such as smell. The next chapter details the beauty of various winter garden colours and how to use and add those colours to your own garden.
"Winter colour is nature's most sophisticated palette - a range dominated by subtle tones, sombre contrasts and striking highlights. As shades of autumn give way to gentler winter hues, it is as though a hand has bleached the canvas. Perhaps the most dramatic change comes with the loss of deciduous leaves - horizons extend and foreground diminish as surfaces all over the garden emerge from summer seclusion and concealment. Many of the trees and shrubs appear skeletal after the lushness of their summer growth and yet it is these newly shorn textures and stripped torsos that become the background colour of the garden. Whereas before it was the flaming reds and burning golds, now it is the gentler fawns and purples and the multitudinous browns and greens that dominate. For the winter gardens, the challenge is to enhance and build upon this mellow array." - Verey
A plant profile section finishes out the book where Verey states that she has chosen 'the plants in the following pages for the beauty of their winter bark, foliage and flowers and for the colour, scent, form and texture that they bring to the garden throughout the year."
After devouring this beautiful and inspiring book, I could not help but notice winter garden beauty on my regular dog walking route. The grey of landscaping rock, the stark white of birch bark, the natural wooden twig fence, the snow covered shrub with tiny seed clusters, and the chipped white picket fence. The range of texture, shade and colour made for a beautiful winter garden.
