The Garden in Winter - What do you do?

There are some positive aspects to that time when mid to late autumn makes it clear that summer is properly over for another year, and for me, it is a dramatic improvement in air quality. Breathing in the garden becomes a refreshing activity, as long as there are no nearby bonfires etc. Connected to this, is the more active breeze, so I make sure there will always be something that can swish and sway, so bamboo fits the bill for me.

I am also beginning to use more grasses - Stipa tenuissima, Calamagrostis Karl Foerster and adding more climbers such as Jasminium officianale and polyanthum and hopefully more lonicera and clematis, with differing flowering times. I planted an Akebia quinata 2022-23 and I have noticed the foliage is looking good at this time of year and has put on recent growth, though it might not be reliably evergreen. I love the cocooning feel of climbers, especially in the winter months.

 

I don't do to much to be fair , I am trying to add more winter interest but its difficult with a small garden and also wanting nearly every plant especially perennials, the frosted look rarely work here maybe the odd plant,I do like calamagrostis karl.F but it doesn't last a moment ripped to shreds then flattened in no time along with everything else .

I do start sowing seeds in January which cheers me up - clean the GH and I usually find a project to do . Make a few plans on moving plants look at for to many plant nursery websites . In a way I try and mentally block out winter I do like the snow but spring is my favourite season .

 

The garden is really hard work, even when the weather is nice. I do my best from Spring to Autumn. It can pull its own weight for three months over the Winter!

 

I hadn't thought about the quality of the air in winter @ClematisDbee, but you're right, it's refreshing. Your note has encouraged me to think more about climbers . Bamboos and grasses are also a good addition to a winter garden, movement and sound add to their luminous quality.

 

That's a disappointment @Perki, you must be in quite an exposed location there. I'm finding that some of mine is looking a bit ragged this year, but then so are many things .

 

That's a perfect winter scene @ArmyAirForce, you won't need to do anything in that setting! I'll bet you're glad of the rest too!

 

Winter is my busiest time in the garden. In the summer I don't really do anything except the occasional watering or picking produce but in the winter I sort the compost heaps out, collect leaves and mulch mulch mulch (with my own garden and my brothers who doesn't garden but likes a nice wildlife friendly outdoor space, plus an allotment the season is busy). The garden doesn't get tidied until the spring, so the wildlife benefits, but I do have lots of winter flowering plants.

 

What a lovely and interesting thread. I love seeing photos of people's gardens. I hope you like it too because I'm about to send you some of mine at different times of year.

Some of you may know that I have 2 gardens because for various reasons I live in France and my partner lives in Norfolk UK.

The winter is the time that I clear the flower beds and apply mulch. I have to do it before the bulbs appear or it looks a mess and you can't see the bulb flowers. I plant snowdrops around my hostas and daffodils between my perennials. I planted tulips in Norfolk one year and a Muntjac deer ate the lot! I should try again as we've reinforced the fencing. We spend longer in Norfolk in the winter so sometimes it's a bit of a rush to get everything done in France. We go there for December to spend Christmas with my children and grandchildren who all live in France, but sometimes OH is in the UK then to spend Christmas with his family.

Winter is also a time for planning.

Anyway, here are some photos of the Norfolk garden in different seasons, winter, spring and June.

I just edited it and the photos arrived above the script!

 

I admire your tenacity @Busy-Lizzie, looking after two gardens! They both always look very well maintained and colourful! I wish I had good soil here to grow roses well. I've added lots of mulch over the last two years and am planning to try a couple more next year to see if they survive! Can you recommend any reliable varieties for a sunny border that have good disease resistance? (I know that black spot will need to be tolerated .)

 

Thank you @Snorky85, that's the observation and planning area .

 

Your yellow border sounds good @noisette47. I can relate to your slope incident, often happens here on wet banks covered in Sorbus berry mush (without the injury, so far!) .

 

I've just been adding to it. Evicted tons of golden Melissa and planted Hydrangea paniculata 'Snow Queen', Mahonia 'Soft Caress', Nandina dom. Lemon Lime, Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' and Pachysandra. The Rosa banksiae I planted right up against the trunk of the big Acer negundo 'Flamingo' a couple of years ago is romping up the tree, bless it. One advantage of the slope is that watering copiously at the top, it filters down to do the bottom too

 

Here is my garden in SW France. It was a blank canvas in Jan 2021 when I bought my house, downsized from our French family home but the garden is still quite big. In winter when I'm there I make new beds and mulch. I have planted bulbs and shrubs but it is more of a summer garden.
Here is a general view in 2021.


Here it is in different seasons.

Making another bed last winter.


The previous winter

 

Now for summer in France.

 

@Plantminded I think you said you have sandy soil, which isn't the best for roses. I have sandy soil in Norfolk and so do they at Peter Beales Classic Roses which is about 20 mins away. I dig in lots of compost and manure when I plant them. I have clay in France. There are so many sorts of roses and I don't know what you like.

One that has done very well and flowers all through summer to autumn in Norfolk is "For Your Eyes Only". It's a Persica rose and one of the parents was a wild desert rose. There is a series of them, single or semi double flowers with coloured eyes. The rambler "Ghislaine de Féligonde" has done well in Norfolk and so has Olivia Rose Austin. I have fewer roses in Norfolk as the garden is much smaller and is rather shady from neighbour's trees.

Deer have been a problem in France, but OH has put wire netting on the fences and raised the fences. I haven't seen a deer since then, but last year they ate my yellow roses along the orchard fence.