Ask for help from experts who can conduct a site visit to your garden
Winter gardens can look very dreary. But not all of them. What's the difference between a beautiful outdoor space that provides an uplifting scene that you can enjoy from the comfort of your home and a tired, bleak area that fills you with despair? The answer lies in planning so that your outside space includes structure, colour and interest throughout the year. You need a mix of shapes and forms that complement each other, creating an interesting layout containing plants that represent your individual personality. Unattractive areas can be hidden using creative screening and the garden shape can be anchored using appropriate trees and shrubs. In the picture below, pleached trees have been used to provide screening above the wall, helping to create a private, secluded garden which also contains interesting foliage colour.
Here at English Woodlands, based near Heathfield in East Sussex, we love to solve garden problems! Ask for a site visit so that we can assess your garden or outside space and suggest planting ideas that will suit your lifestyle. You might need to gain a little privacy from neighbours or achieve some seasonal colour so that next winter will be a little brighter. Perhaps you would like to know what type of trees are likely to thrive within your garden, whilst taking into consideration the size of garden, the aspect, conditions and soil type. Most problems have solutions and we excel at solving them!
Some shrubs and trees have interesting stem or bark colour, including the various Cornus (dogwood), pictured above, which are often planted specifically for winter stem colour.
Betula utilis varieties are often chosen for their bright, white bark colour (pictured above) which looks even more effective during winter months, especially when teamed with dark evergreens.
English Woodlands is a tree and shrub nursery specialising in both native and ornamental plants. We have many different varieties in a range of sizes. Did you know, for example, that you can even grow trees in pots? Provided you choose carefully, even the smallest space can support some trees. Some of the best for this purpose include Arbutus unedo, the evergreen strawberry tree. It likes slightly acid through to neutral soil, positioned in full sun or partial shade. It can even survive in coastal regions provided it is sheltered. There are many different fruit trees that can be considered, including apples and pears, crab apples and ornamental trees such as the beautiful Magnolia stellata with its star-shaped spring flowers. Acer palmatums can look stunning in pots, as do structural evergreens including half standard forms of holly and multi-stem bay trees (pictured below).
You might be keen to improve the biodiversity of your garden, in which case we can advise on tree and shrub varieties that provide the very best benefits to wildlife and the eco-system. Winter berries, for example, not only bring a burst of colour to the winter garden, but also attract birds who are looking for food. This, in turn, brings the garden alive during the darkest months of the year. Perhaps the winter scene has exposed ugly fences? You might benefit from a few carefully-placed evergreens to permanently hide the boundaries, thus providing the illusion of a larger space.
Ornamental crab apples, such as Malus 'Red Sentinel', pictured above, will sustain the birds during winter.
The best time to organise your garden and to plan for the future is right now! Our specialist team of experts will be delighted to discuss your needs and to visit your garden in order to provide advice and guidance. We are also able to carry out planting so that your carefully selected, top quality plants will thrive.
Ring us on: 01435 862 992 or fill out the online contact form HERE. We look forward to meeting you!
