Winter Planning

| General

Winter is more than just a time of dormancy – it’s the perfect season to reflect, plan, and shape your garden for the year ahead. As snow reveals the bare structure of the landscape, gardeners can evaluate what needs pruning, where to add native plants, and how to enhance spaces for wildlife. Thoughtful winter planning can lead to a more resilient, beautiful garden that supports native bees, birds, and other wildlife throughout the seasons. Discover how to make the most of winter by preparing your garden for spring growth and boosting biodiversity.

By Mary Pellerito

Winter has set in.  Snow covers the ground really giving a clear view of the garden structure.  What needs pruned and what can be added for more winter interest?   I look out each window in the house to see if the view can be edited or added to since we spend most of our time looking at the garden from inside. 

Our landscape in northern Michigan borders a forest preserve and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore so our garden is woodland.  We have paper birch (Betula papyrifera), white oak (Quercus alba), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), black cherry (Prunus serotina), red pine (Pinus resinosa), and white pine (Pinus strobus).  Beech trees (Fagus grandifolia) were a predominant tree until the Beech Bark Disease hit the area. Beech bark disease (BBD) is caused by the interaction between an invasive beech scale insect (Cryptococcus fagisuga) and a native canker fungus (Nectria). The scale insect feeds on the tree’s bark, creating openings that allow the fungus to infect and damage the tree.

We have many seedlings on the property, and we are letting them grow so that hopefully, eventually, they will figure out how to develop resistance.  The property lacks an understory tree layer, shrubs, and a forest floor layer because of the overpopulation of deer so the winter views are the green of white pine and the different textures and colors of the tree trunks.

Based on the current structure, cutting out unwanted seedlings, thinning out clumps of smaller trees, removing invasives, and clearing the paths through the woodland are garden tasks for a temperate winter day or an early spring task.  We could let the forest do what the forest does on our property, but I want it to look a bit more manicured and designed.  So, when a tree branch or a tree falls on the property, we use some of the trunks or the limbs to delineate the garden paths or we cut the larger pieces for firewood.  We pile the smaller limbs to create a place for wildlife to find cover or even a home.  We do leave some trees down so they can eventually feed the forest floor.  Russian olives are an invasive can easily take over a landscape so removing them is essential and is part of my yearly garden maintenance.  The most effective way I have found to remove these shrubs is in the fall, cut them as low to the ground as possible and spray an herbicide on the exposed wood.  Since Russian olives are such a big problem, I have no qualms about taking drastic measures and making an exception regarding using an herbicide in the garden.

I also evaluate if and where I can add trees, canopy and understory, and shrubs for additional garden structure and food for insects and birds.  In my area, young trees and shrubs need to be protected when young to keep them safe from deer. 

Now that I have edited the garden structure, at least on paper, I need to think of my goals for the garden.  I want this garden to be a wildlife garden, so I need to provide food, water, cover, and places to raise young.  This year, I want to focus on providing for native bees.  Native plants provide the food, so I need to research the following:

  • What plants are native to my area?
  • What plants provide food for native bees?
  • When do plants bloom so I can provide food for bees from April-September?
  • Are plants deer and rabbit resistant?
  • What are the sunlight and soil requirements of the plants?
  • What is the height, bloom colors, and spacing of the plants?

Resources I use a to help identity plants for my region are the books Bringing Nature Home by Douglas W. Tallamy and The Living Landscape by Rick Drake and Doug Tallamy.   The Prairie Moon nursery website and the Prairie Nursery website provide details about natives so I can pick the right plants for the right space in the garden. 

This research can be overwhelming, so I created a spreadsheet of the plants I have in my garden beds with columns for where plants are located, ecological benefits, bloom time, bloom color, height, and spacing. 

Screenshot of the author's garden speadsheet.

My garden beds, at best, receive partial sunlight and are mostly partial to full shade in summer with more light coming through in early spring and late autumn.  I have medium to medium-dry soil covered with a few inches of beautiful loam and then sand.  We have a sprinkler system so we can provide consistent water.  If you have different light requirements and soil structure around your property, you may want to add those on spreadsheet.  Once I know what I am currently growing, I add my ‘dream list’ of plants to see if what I want fills any gaps in bloom time, color, and garden structure.  Once I edit the plants and the quantity, I place an online order.  If you are lucky enough to have a local native plant nursery, check out their native plant list and purchase plants when they open.

My winter garden tasks are done.  In the meantime, when weather permits, you will find me enjoying winter on the trails or next to the fire with a pile of garden books. 

Mary Pellerito lives in Northwoods of Michigan where she is learning how be a forest dweller and help provide for the wildlife with whom she spares this space. She is a member of the Wild Ones Grand Traverse Chapter.