How to spruce up your dull, winter landscape

While your plants and garden bed may be resting this winter, there are still some things you can do to liven up your outdoor space and bring curb appeal back to your home. Some simple landscaping touches can add a bit of cheerful life to your otherwise grey landscape. A few ideas for you…

1. Include shrubs or trees that offer colorful berries through the winter season. Berries often provide a bright or deep red hue, which offer a phenomenal contrast to white snow. Crab-apple and hollies are some great choices.
2. Look to hardscape elements to make a statement. Winter may be the ideal time to assess your property and find an opportunity to add a trellis, an arbor, an outdoor fireplace, a bench or other feature to enhance your landscape. 
3. While clay pots and statuary should be brought indoors, to avoid having these items crack from alternating freezing and thawing, you can continue to use metal, wood or plastic containers throughout winter. Instead of throwing these in your shed for the winter, fill them with winter-hardy plants. Window boxes, decorative wheelbarrows, pots and hanging baskets can all be brought back to life by adding spruce, ornamental cabbage, Boston ivy, broadleaf evergreens or holly.