How To Create A Winter Garden

Charlie Dimmock Offers Tips For This Time Of Year

(CBS)  If you have a corner of your yard bounded by hedges and protected from the wind, you can create a little winter corner that will look wonderfully welcoming when the weather turns chilly.

Some evergreen plants with flowers and berries will keep your garden looking vibrant. What do you use to define the space? A dramatic, rustic-looking arbor.

Arbor kits are available from many sources. They are easy to put together in about half an hour. The wood has been treated so you don't need to paint it.

After you've assembled your arbor, put it in the ground. Mark where the feet are going to go before you dig out the holes. Use instant post mix to secure the feet into place. Use a level to make sure the arbor is not crooked.

Jasmine will grow up and over the arbor with lots and lots of scent - which is slightly unusual since it has yellow leaves.

At the base are evergreens, featuring a combination of foliage and flowers.

Try these plants:

• Blue leaved hebe
  
  
• Plum pudding heuchera, named because of the rich purple leaves. It flowers in the summer as well so there's going to be interest all year around.
  
  
• Heathers, which come in various colors from white and pink through to deep red. They like acid soil, so if you haven't got it, dig in some peat and that will make them much happier.
  
  
• Gaultheria, which has little white flowers in the late summer, followed by red berries. It makes a great ground cover plant with a great spread that will suppress the weeds.
  
  
• Alaeagnus, which is variegated and really stands out against the dark of the hedge. It's got tiny little flowers that are really sweetly scented when they open.
  
  
• Viburnum tinus, a great plant because it flowers on and off all through the winter and into the early spring. It gets covered with little berries as well. This plant becomes quite big.

If you can't build a winter garden, you can at least maintain dramatic interest in your garden during the winter months with some of these plants.