5 garden plants nature-focused families can grow for winter interest

Incorporating plants that add structure and interest to the winter garden is essential for nature-focused families looking to create a garden with year round interest. It can be challenging to think of the garden beyond the summer months and I often speak to clients who tell me that their garden looks great when everything is in bloom in spring or summer, but becomes bare in the winter months when so many garden plants go dormant.

Thoughtful planning is key to creating a beautiful planting schemes with interest all year round.

Start with larger structural plants and work your way down to those plants that add seasonal interest. Create a spreadsheet which highlights what your garden plants are doing and when. I use different colours on a spreadsheet to denote when a plant is in leaf, when it's in flower, when its dormant, when it has fruits or berries or interesting winter structure. From here you can work out where the gaps are and you can decide where to make changes or additions.

Winter and spring is an excellent time to plan and plant. Not just for the coming spring and summer, but for autumn and next winter too. Our gardens constantly evolve and change and winter is the perfect opportunity to sit back and take a stock-take of the garden.

Ask yourself:

What plants and plant combinations worked well?

What plants struggled?

Are there any plants that would benefit from a different position?

Are there any gaps that need filling?

There are many plants that add interest to the winter garden.

My top-5 go-to plants for winter interest are:

Helleborus

Hellebore's are popular herbaceous plants with various cultivars available that flower from January through to March. They are compact plants with shiny evergreen foliage that looks its best in the winter months when so many other plants are hiding away.

Easy to grow, hardy and happiest in a partially shaded border, I recommend planting Hellebores at the front or middle of a border in groups where they will be noticed in the winter months. Pair with other perennials such as snowy wood rush (Luzula nivea), Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost') or Carex 'Evergold'.

Viburnum tinus 'Eve Price'

This hardy, winter flowering Viburnum, is a lovely garden addition. The foliage is evergreen with pretty clusters of pink/white flowers that appear in winter. The foliage is dark green and shiny. Attractive to wildlife, Viburnum provides habitat for birds and other garden animals. This particular Viburnum is a slow grower, but can reach an eventual height and spread of 3m. It's easy to maintain to the size you want with an annual prune.

Suitable for all soil types and happy in full sun to full shade, I usually plant Viburnum tinus at the back of garden borders where it can work to soften a fence or create a backdrop for other planting.

Cornus sanguineus 'Midwinter Fire'

A beautiful deciduous shrub which looks good throughout the year. This particular Cornus has pretty clusters of white flowers throughout May and June and has attractive foliage which turns from green to red in Autumn before the leaves fall to reveal gorgeous bright red winter stems. The stems are a standout feature in the garden in winter and look especially beautiful on bright, frosty mornings.

Easy to grow and forming a compact and upright shrub up to 2 metres tall by 2 metres wide, this Cornus grows well in full sun or part shade and is usually unfussy about soil type. For the best stem colour, leave the plant unpruned for the first year of planting and then cut back hard to within 5 to 10 cm from the ground in following years.

All types of dogwood are useful for garden wildlife.

Corylus avellana (hazel)

Hazel is an invaluable native plant which works very well in a garden setting.

Hazel is a deciduous shrub with beautiful hanging catkins that appear in winter, before the leaves start to bud and burst into bloom. The leaves themselves are green in summer, turning to shades of yellow in the autumn. Hazel nuts form on the plant in the second half of the year and these provide food for birds and small mammals such as doormice. The hazelnuts are edible and we can harvest them too.

Easy to grow and maintain, I often incorporate hazel into my planting schemes because they provide interest throughout the year and are important for wildlife too, particularly moths, butterflies and birds.

In my own garden I grow hazel in clay soil in a partly shaded position. Generally this lovely shrub will grow in a range of soils in full sun or partial shade. Hazel can eventually become quite large so consider this when you choose the planting position. It can be used at the back of a large border or as a specimen multi-stem shrub. I keep mine in check by pruning out older stems each year which I then use as kindling or keep for bean poles in my vegetable garden.

It's also possible to coppice hazel (that is cut all the stems down to around 10cm the ground). This will allow you to keep the size in check.

Galanthus nivalis (snowdrop)

Snowdrops are a real star in winter. These pretty little white flowers brighten up even the dullest winter day, especially when planted en-masse in a woodland setting.

Plant snowdrops in any soil type in light shade. They will bloom and die back before most other perennials come into leaf so you can squeeze them in between other perennials in a garden border or underneath and around deciduous shrubs and trees.

It is best to plant snowdrops 'in the green', that is, when they are in leaf. Most bulb suppliers will send them out at this stage of their life cycle.

For advice on what to plant when, get in touch with Wild Edge Garden Design.