The Benefits of Winter Landscaping: Why You Shouldn't Wait for Spring

Winter is often considered “downtime” for many home gardeners. Many simply wait for spring to get the landscaping done because that’s the garden comes to life again. But there are quite a few benefits to landscaping during the winter months.

At Windy Willows, we share why you shouldn’t wait but should rather take advantage of winter when it comes to your next landscape project.

The Perks of Landscaping in Winter

While we tend to associate winter with harsher conditions and withering plants, it can be beneficial to start planning your landscaping projects in the colder months.

1. Give Yourself Extra Prep Time. Landscaping can require quite a lot of preparation. This is why starting your planning sooner rather than later is beneficial. It gives you time to gather ideas and put those ideas into workable plans. You will be able to set up a realistic budget to realise your dream garden. Starting your planning in winter will ensure that you are ready and can get a head start with your winter landscaping.
2. Some Plants Need to be Planted in Winter. Certain plants, known as cool-season annuals, need to be planted during the colder months. If they are planted during spring or summer, they will not thrive due to the heat. However, what makes cool-annuals worth planting is that they will bloom in spring, so your garden will already be thriving when the season starts changing. Some examples for those proudly South African gardens include the African Daisy and the Creeping Foxglove.
3. Your Project Can be Finished Sooner. By the time spring rolls around, you already want to be able to enjoy your landscaping efforts blooming before your eyes. If you start planning and landscaping in winter, your project will be completed earlier. If you only start in spring, the chances are that you will only see results when the season comes to an end. After all, the perfect garden, much like Rome, wasn’t built in a day.
4. Issues Can be Resolved in Time. Part of any landscaping service is identifying and resolving any issues or problems in your garden. A good landscaper will ensure that potential issues in your garden are addressed before starting a project. These may negatively impact your landscaping, such as pests that are harmful to your plants or drainage problems that must be eradicated with irrigation The advantage to getting this type of assessment done in winter is that it gives you ample time to put solutions in place before the hustle and bustle of spring – the gardener’s busiest season.
5. Give Yourself Time to Find Your Plants. Some plants will need to be planted in winter to be in full bloom in spring and then some plants need warmer weather to thrive. If you already start your planning in winter, you can start planting early enough to see your plants thrive in spring or you can reserve spots in your garden for those that require later planting. That way, you have everything in place when it is time to plant.
6. Hardscaping Can Get Done Sooner. Though the warmer months tend to be landscapers’ busiest months, the colder months offer the chance to focus on your garden’s hardscaping, including the man-made fixtures, such as fences, patios, etc. This is the perfect time to check the structures in your garden and do repairs where needed, or redesign and build new features altogether. Once the hardscaping is done, you can move on to planning the softscape (the natural elements of your garden).

With winter around the corner, get started with your landscaping prep so that your garden can look fresh as a daisy come spring. While you’re at it, contact us for professional landscaping services and expert advice.