Brighten Up Your Garden This Winter - 5 Tips

During the coldest months of the year, gardens can end up looking a little sad. The vibrancy of flowers disappears, laws become a bit dreary, and the weather seems even more unpredictable. But that doesn’t mean you should surrender your garden to the winter period.

If you’ve got active kids/grandkids or pets that love to go outside, there are a few simple ways the brighten up your garden and make it a fun and relaxing place.

Here are 5 ways to brighten up your garden this winter.

1. Create a fire pit
We all know how cold the winter months can get, and a nice crackling fire can help keep you warm. If you’ve ever thought about creating a fire pit for your garden, now’s the time to do it. Not only does a fire pit offer practical benefits such as warmth and extra light for you and your visitors, but adds an eye-catching centre piece to your outside space too. By integrating this warm idea with a seating area, you can turn it into an area perfect for socialising – how does a drink round the fire sound?

2. Attract some wildlife
Another way to brighten up your garden is to attract some extra life - more specifically, wildlife. A great way to do this is by creating a bird box or adding a birdbath of your choice. You could also hang a selection of nuts if you like squirrels, or even create a highway for hedgehogs by allowing them to pass through a small hole in the bottom of your fence. We explain how to do this with video refences in our recent blog all about encouraging garden wildlife.




3. Seed a range of scented plants
No garden is complete without a scent, and with just a bit of planning, it’s possible to get your garden smelling great, even in the winter.

Whilst most plants produce the best fragrance in warm, sheltered spots, there are a few species worth mentioning that shine throughout winter:

• The Chimonanthus praecox, also known as ‘Wintersweet’, has obtained its name for a reason. Renowned for their intense winter fragrance and yellow petals, this flower is perfect for the upcoming season.
• The Iris unguicularis (Mary Barnard) is a rich violet blue flower with a gold-centred white flash on three of the petals. They open from November to February and are strongly primrose scented.
• The Mahonia (Oregon grape) are the perfect low-maintenance garden plants. They are evergreen, happy in shade, and flower in the winter, just when we all need a splash of colour.

4. Add evergreen shrubs for topiary
Topiary is the name given to formally clipped plants, usually evergreens, which are added to gardens to provide shape, structure, and symmetry, as well as winter interest.

The characteristics of good topiary plants are smallish evergreen leaves and a bushy tendency that can be clipped into shape. They keep their leaves for longer than most trees in the winter, and look especially good when backlit by a low winter sun.

5. Enhance your garden lighting
With the sun setting much earlier in winter, your garden can look quite dull once the afternoon passes. Installing outdoor lighting can give your garden that extra burst of life, allowing you to enjoy your outside space for as long as you like.

When it comes to your garden lighting, there are endless possibilities. From concealed and directional spotlights that add character to your garden with shadows, through to colourful LEDs that create a joyful and unique atmosphere. Whatever your vision, garden lighting can be used to bring it to life.

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Interested in adding a new touch of light to your garden? Then check out our Ellumiere range for all your outdoor lighting needs. It’s one of the simplest and most effective 12v garden lighting systems available today.