Enjoying your Garden this Winter

21 November 2017

Just because the nights are longer and colder as winter is drawing in here in the UK, it doesn’t mean that you have to stop enjoying your garden altogether. With a little bit of creativity you can get plenty of pleasure out of your garden during the colder months too.

Making an Event of it

Most of us enjoy celebrating Guy Fawkes despite the cold, so why not arrange more fun events during the winter evenings, either as a family or getting friends over? The fact that it gets dark so early can actually be an advantage, as you can enjoy the cosiness of a nighttime fire and watch the stars from early evening onwards, instead of having to wait until after 10pm!

Making it Cosy

Just because the temperature outside is near freezing, doesn’t mean you can’t get nice and cosy in the garden. Fire pits, chimineas, woodburners or even just a good old patio heater can all help to raise the temperature. Get everyone to dress warmly, have a few snuggly blankets around to wrap up in and you’ll soon wonder why you haven’t been spending every night in the garden. You can toast marshmallows and drink hot chocolate or mulled wine as you all gather around the cosy warmth of the fire or heater.

Making it Magical

The dark nights in winter also mean you can make the most of lighting in your garden. You don’t need to wait until Christmas to string up the fairy lights, and hanging lanterns around the patio area or having lights placed in amongst your plants or along your garden borders can create a really magical effect. The best thing about garden lighting is you can enjoy it even when it is too wet or windy to go out in the garden - it will still be lovely to look outside your windows into the garden and see it lit up beautifully. Take a look at this article on using lighting to transform your garden for some more ideas.

Winter Scents

There are some plants that produce lovely scented flowers in the winter, so you can make your garden even more lovely to walk through during the cold season. Try growing winter-flowering honeysuckle or wintersweet to bring gorgeous floral scents to your garden.

Winter Bird Watching

As the temperatures drop, you can entice all sorts of birds into your garden by putting food out for them. Who doesn’t love to see a robin with its seasonal red breast on display hopping around their garden? Birds also need a reliable source of fresh water, even in the colder months, so providing them with a bird bath in your garden can also encourage them to visit regularly. Just remember that if you’re going to set up bird feeders in winter, it’s important to keep them topped up so that the birds can rely on your garden as a source of food.

Your garden can bring you just as much joy in the winter as it does in the warmer months, so why not try some of our ideas? The best part is that your garden needs so little maintenance in the winter too, so you can really relax and make the most of the season!

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