How to have a beautiful winter garden

Winter is often seen as a time away from the garden when the harsh weather drives gardeners indoors, but the cold weather brings both opportunities and challenges. A frost that can harm tender plants may also create the stunning spectacle of a crisp white lawn, frozen seed heads and branches dusted with ice.

Cyclamen and hellebores nestled beneath the red stems of dogwoods make a welcome picture

​Six key elements of winter garden design

​RHS Chelsea designer Naomi Slade advises on how to choose planting which blends the seasons, rather than seeing the garden coming to a juddering halt in November and not pick up again until March.

RHS winter advice

Naomi’s winter gardening jobs

Winter is the perfect time to prune apple trees

• ​Bulbs: planting up containers and spreads of bulbs in autumn and early winter ensures there will soon be flowers to enjoy. It can also help to link the winter and spring gardens, so there is not an awkward pause. Feed bulbs in containers to keep them going until the following year.

• Tender perennials: some plants are borderline hardy and these can be lifted and brought into a greenhouse, or moved under cover wholesale if grown in a pot. Alternatively, if the soil is sufficiently well-drained, they can be left in situ, with the crowns protected with a thick layer of mulch or insurance cuttings taken in late summer and overwintered inside.

• Fruit trees and other woody plants: winter pruning encourages new growth that will produce fruit and flowers, and helps to maintain an attractive shape. However, if a plant is doing well or is flowering consistently without intervention, annual pruning may not be needed, while very mature specimens may not need pruning at all.

• Soil care: using organic matter as a mulch does not just make the garden look tidy and cared for, but it also improves everything from water retention and drainage, to increasing the availability of nutrients and supporting microfauna. Add spent compost, leaf mould, or chipped bark to the surface before the cold sets in and let the weather and worms do their work.

• Sowing seeds: in early and late winter, seeds can be sown for a crop of annual flowers such as sweet peas or Ammi majus. Chillies and tomatoes can be sown in early spring, to fruit in the summer.

• Bare roots: in autumn and winter, a range of perennials, shrubs, and trees are available to purchase as dormant, bare-root specimens. Often cheaper to buy and ship than potted plants, these may need less maintenance too, as they are inactive when planted and the ground is already moist.

• Tidy up: it is much easier to relax and enjoy your garden when it doesn’t present you with niggling jobs to do, so take some time to sort things out to your liking. Stack empty pots in an inconspicuous corner, compost dead plants and debris, and make sure that everything looks as pleasing as possible.

• Shop the plants of the Winter Walk at RHS Harlow Carr >

• Shop the plants of the Winter Walk at RHS Wisley >

Naomi Slade’s book RHS The Winter Garden – Celebrating the Forgotten Season, urges readers to use the dormant months as an opportunity to take another look at their outdoor spaces and offers design tips so that they can be enjoyed all-year round.

Illustrated with breath-taking photography, the book covers fundamental elements and basic principles of garden design, framed through the context of winter rather than summer.

Buy the book>

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