Start a new project this winter and you could be finished just in time for spring. To get you going, here are 7 inspiring garden projects for the winter.
Many gardeners take their leave over winter. Spades and trowels are locked away in the shed and don’t see the light of the day until spring encroaches. For the dedicated gardener, however, the slower winter period is an opportunity for you to catch up on those exciting or seasonal projects you just haven’t had the time to get to grips with.
So pull your wellies on and get started.
7 inspiring garden projects for the winter
1. Craft festive decorations from dried seeds and flowers
Turn a sad thing into a happy one by making us of past-their-best stems and wilting flowers. As the season changes, the garden will be full of flowers declining for winter.
Pick the desired flowers then leave to air in a warm, dry place. (An airing cupboard is prime real estate.)
Once the stalks are dried, you can do any number of creative things with them.
- Bind them with string or twice and present as bouquets
- Attach them to ribbons or bindings for other gifts, as a finishing touch
- Press the leaves beneath a book when drying, so they dry flat. You can can preserve them between the pages of a personalised book or diary
- Pressed flowers can also be framed and given as a gift
- If you’re really committed, you could even try assembling a wreath from them
2. Make birdseed Christmas ornaments
Feed the birds and occupy the children at the same time! eHow have a helpful article on how to make them here. They’re easy to make, they don’t take long, and it’s a great excuse to get the family together on a Sunday afternoon. The birds will be grateful, too.
Find out how else to attract birds to your garden this winter.
3. Give the gift of a pebble terrarium
If you’re still feeling creative after your birdseed ornaments, pebble terrariums make the perfect gift for friends or family over the Christmas period.
They couldn’t be easier to make. You’ll need a selection of pebbles, aquarium gravel, some succulents, a paper divider, and a glass container.
- Place the gravel at the bottom of the container, followed by the larger stones.
- Gently press or shake these to settle them, then place the paper divider on top.
- Carefully scoop the succulents in their entirety from their existing pots and arrange them onto the paper towel.
- Finally, top with a few more stones to cover the roots/paper and provide a natural finish.
Occasionally provide a light misting to hydrate the plants, and the terrarium is good to go!
4. Build that wall
With less time required for the general maintenance of your garden, you can concentrate on more time-heavy projects like building a garden wall.
You might have been wanting to build a low wall for a while, or the idea might be new to you. A wall is a great way of making your garden stand out. Depending on the style and the stone used, it can also give much needed character to a garden, from clean, modern lines with pier caps to more rustic weathered coping.
It defines your garden’s borders and can give your garden a more complete look, especially if it borders a pavement or other public walkway.
Building a garden wall in five simple steps
5. Carry out damage control
Garden projects for the winter can include damage control. Take the opportunity to fix up and tidy your garden after a long summer of use.
Patios often show signs of wear and tear after an intensive summer of parties, BBQs and family dinners. Easy Joint is an ideal fix for unsightly cracks or eroded joinings.
Where edgings have come away, you can very easily and quickly replace these in time for spring.
Give the lawn one last mow before winter hits, usually towards the start of November, but earlier if morning temperatures drop to below 5 degrees celsius before then.
Learn more about how to prepare your garden for winter.
6. Build a bug-hotel
Wildlife is one of a garden’s strongest appeals. There’s nothing quite like welcoming nature into your garden and watching it burrow, feed, sleep, or drink as it settles into its new home. The bug-hotel encourages all of this.
Expect to spend around two hours assembling your hotel. In essence, it’s an assembly of wood, bricks, pots, slats, dry plant matter, pine cones, moss, sand, soil, and bark, which insects, frogs, small mammals and all sorts of other creatures will enjoy exploring.
- Tier the slats or planks using bricks or square-cut logs to create a small tower.
- On each level, insert the bark, plant pots, dried plants and grasses, creating a mixture of textures and environments.
- Make sure the hotel is stable and has lots of small access points or holes where wildlife can enter and exit.
We love the bug-hotel because you can get really creative and personalised. You can also involve the whole family! As animals move in, it’s great fun introducing the children to the various insects and other fauna settling there.
Just make sure these little trips are always supervised and enjoy teaching the little ones about our amazing British wildlife!
7. Create a winter wonderland
Garden projects for the winter don’t come more inspiring than this. Complement winter’s natural beauty with a few choice items and turn your garden into a wonderland. A project like this doesn’t have to be huge, although you can easily scale it up if you want to go all out.
The first step is choosing a selection of winter perennials. Lots of flowers bloom over the winter, often with strong fragrances that will turn your winter garden into a sensory experience.
We’ve recently written about some of our favourite winter-flowering plants here.
You’ll want to consider ornaments and other landscape accessories, too. If you’re looking out for some choice items to act as a focal point in your garden, or your just looking for something to add a little detail, browse our characterful range.
You might have lots of these already, in which case, simply rearrange them to better showcase your winter display.