Gardener shares simple method to prevent garden from becoming an eye-sore during winter: 'Looks great'

Warmer months bring a variety of green foliage and vibrancy to your yard. But what about the winter months? How can you keep the beauty then?

One gardener found the perfect solution. In a post on the r/nolawns subreddit, they explained how they keep their garden "visually interesting" during the cold season.

"Winters here are short, so my garden does tend to focus on spring/summer/fall interest, but I've tried to add more elements ... during winter," the original poster wrote.

The gardener stressed the importance of textures and evergreen elements. They explained that they "had to seek out and test different conifers and evergreens," adding that "some do better than others (arborvitae and rhododendron do really well here)." 

They also refrain from cutting back old plants.

"I also don't cut back my old perennials until the end of winter/beginning of spring to keep some forage for wildlife and frankly I enjoy the look of it," the gardener stated. "I also don't prune [certain flowers] until mid to late February to keep the winter interest of the dried blooms. I'd rather look at that than the bare sticks."

The OP also suggested Edgeworthia chrysantha, also known as Paper Bush, as a favored winter plant.

Refraining from cutting back plants and instead letting one's garden grow naturally offers glorious texture for cooler months and can maintain the beauty of your garden year-round. 

Letting your garden grow has more than one benefit. You can save loads of money without the need for expensive landscaping tools, and you can also reduce your water bills. It allows you to spend less time working on your garden and more time enjoying its natural beauty. Further, you use fewer chemical fertilizers or pesticides on your lawn, which is fantastic for wildlife and soil health. 

The decline of key pollinators like bees threatens biodiversity and global food security, and a natural garden can encourage them to visit, feed, and pollinate plants.

If you have a lawn, what aspect of it do you value most? The way it looks 🤩 The way my family uses it 👪 It's enjoyable to mow 😎 It's cheap to maintain 💰 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

"Looks great," wrote one commenter, who also recommended some other ways to make a winter garden look amazing. "This reminds me that I want to get some red-twig dogwood shrubs this spring. The red stems add some nice contrast to a winter garden. The variegated leaves in spring and summer do the same."

Others are completely stunned.

"This is beautiful and it looks like you've blended your yard perfectly with the nature preserve," they wrote. "So pretty!"

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