mazerolm - yeah, pictures and/or comments on whether gardening for ‘winter interest’ is something you actively do. I often see comments advocating planting for winter interest but it’s not been a big factor in my garden planning/planting. In my younger years in the Maritimes and Quebec, there was too much snow to worry much about what the garden looked like in winter. Here, even in winters with very little snow cover, the bare ground doesn’t bother me much because I ‘see’ what will be there later in warmer weather and just accept that the bare state is a natural part of the cycle. A few large evergreens for a backdrop for the garden works as well - or better - in the growing season as they do in the winter. I’m curious to see if my attitude is common or whether I’m an oddball on this issue :-)

woodyoak..I should've said winter interest was not a deliberate plan or priority..my evergreen plants added structure too..I had space, they were shade tolerant and available so I bought them..

nicholsworth - does the ‘drabness’ really bother you or does it make you appreciate the lush green of the growing season all the more? Watching for the early hints of green is such a pleasurable part of the garden cycle for me. The static green of most winter evergreens (particularly most coniferous ones) just doesn’t compare for me. I tried red twig dogwood once but just never got ‘into’ the spring cutting back that is needed to get the best red stems for winter. Too much work IMO :-)

nicholsworth - yeah, I see/use evergreens primarily as all-season structural elements, with ‘winter interest’ as a minor benefit.

woodyoak..no I'm not that bothered by drabness..it's just winter right?..but of course I really miss the lush tranquility of my forest and my plants..I would love a short winter!..I don't plan to buy any more evergreens or red twig dogwoods..I have a few and it's enough..

back to say your comment right above this one well said..also I think an arbor, shed, stones etc add winter interest.

I wish I had the nerve to try evergreens in pots on the deck for winter interest, but I don't know if anything will survive zone 6A in a pot. I like the ornamental grasses for winter interest and I don't cut back the hydrangea or sedums until Spring--I like the way they look. Most shrubs in this area get creamed by the deer, so, alas--not much as much winter interest as I'd like around here.

my neighbor tried boxwoods in a pot..didn't work..I wondered if ivy on an obelisk would work but haven't tried it..if I try anything I think the pot should be concrete..my climate destroys pots..

Woody your garden is lovely in all four seasons but winter is definitely time to have the minds eye working. Like you I adore the first signs of life in spring and just have to keep that thought going during the loooong winter months. We had a super early fall this year, with snow that stayed on the ground in Oct. then by Nov. we were fully into it. Never have I seen that before!

I get far too much snow to think too much about winter interest. I normally have grasses putting on a show, though this year they have been flattened by several bouts of freezing rain. The tracery of vines on the arbour helps.

You clearly missed the storm yesterday/day before that dumped an additional 16" to the massive amount we already had.

Woodyoak, even though I’ve planted lots of conifers for year round color, most are too small to accomplish that goal, as you’ll see in the pictures below. But winter interest is something that’s been on my mind recently, since I read an article about landscape design for areas with lots of snow. Ideas mentioned were saunas, jacuzzis and fireplaces. Our backyard is a blank slate at the moment, but I’d love to include a fireplace & sitting area that we could use year-round. There’s a snowshoe trail next to our house, I can totally see myself roasting marshmallows after a hike! :) Here’s a few pics:

Side yard: lots of plantings underneath all that snow!

Backyard: arborvitae hedge and 3 yellow birches.

Other side yard: my neighbor’s outside right now and I did not want him to think I was taking his picture! :).

peren.all - we did get a storm on Tuesday but only got 3-4” of snow, with the rest as rain/freezing rain. It was a slippery mess out there; we even had to salt the porches in order to go out safely! I’ve been stuck indoors far too much this winter...!

Your picture, to me, illustrates coniferous evergreens’ role as a backdrop. It makes the man-made structures stand out more and, if there was a bunch of smaller, ornamental evergreens in the foreground, they’d probably look odd in scale and would end up getting buried in the snow anyway. I grew up on a property that had been carved out of an evergreen forest in pioneer times so evergreens we’re tall, old, and a constant backdrop. That is probably why that still, to me, seems like their proper/natural role in the garden :-)

mazerolm - it looks like you’ve got a very big property there - how big is it? I’m surprised that there aren’t more old evergreens in the background - it looks to be largely deciduous forest...? If I was hiking/snowshoeing/skiing in that environment, I’d want to finish indoors by a nice fire, not outdoors! :-). With all that space I think one would have to be planning and planting on a different scale (both wrt physical space and time horizon) than in a suburban garden like mine. It looks like you have a fun and long-term project there! I hope you’re planning to stay awhile :-)

woodyoak: we have 27,000 sq.feet. It looks larger than it is because we're the last house in our development. The lot behind and next to us gets flooded in Spring, then remains very wet, which probably explains why there's not more evergreens. Lots of larches and birches, though! Poor drainage is actually the main reason why we haven't done anything in the backyard yet. It's something we'll have to fix before all else. I'm concentrating my efforts in front and on both sides for the moment! :)