Are you looking for winter landscaping ideas for your Saanich Peninsula or Greater Victoria property? There are many areas of your landscaping that can be designed to provide both aesthetics and function for your property in the winter months that carry benefits year-round. Any landscaping improvements (especially when completed by a professional) will improve the value of your property too.
Here are some winter landscaping suggestions for both residential and commercial properties on the Saanich Peninsula and Greater Victoria.
#1. Clean Up Your Property
When all the leaves have fallen, the trees look bare, your perennials have withered back and your yard just looks like a desolate wasteland, it’s time to give the property a good fall cleaning. Rake and remove all the dead leaves (they harbour disease and fungi), rake out your gardens, trim back any trees or hedges or dead branches, clean out any water features and give the lawn it’s final cut of the season.
A good clean up of your property will keep it looking good throughout the winter months and give you a fresh canvas for more landscaping improvements.
#2. Lay Down Fresh Mulch In Your Gardens
After the garden beds have been raked and are free of rotting leaves and other organic debris it’s always a good idea to spread a fresh layer of mulch across your gardens. Mulch will help insulate your soil for the cold winter months and it will also give a nice, clean and uniform look to your garden beds.
A layer of mulch 2-4″ thick will allow for a small amount of material settling to ensure good coverage. You’ll want to make sure that the stems and stalks of your plants don’t get covered, so you can create a “well” around the plants trunk by hand to ensure it has ample breathing room.
#3. Plant Evergreen Shrubs and Trees
Planting evergreens into your landscape is a great way to bring more color into your landscape during the winter. The name “Evergreen” is a little bit misleading as there are many species of evergreen available in a wide variety of colors including yellow, brown, blue and obviously many shades of green.
Evergreens can be planted on the edge of your garden beds or dotted along your property in carefully chosen locations to add color and a more natural feel. They are low maintenance, long-term landscaping features that will grow and add value to your property as they mature, so long as they are maintained properly.
#4. Landscape Construction and Hardscaping Projects
During the fall and winter months is a good time to consider any landscape construction projects you might be thinking about. Raised garden beds, retaining walls, attached pergolas, arbours, gazebos, decks and paver patios are all landscape construction projects that can be completed during the fall and winter.
Winter is a great time to consider building an attached pergola onto your back deck, especially if you like to BBQ or sit outside. Retaining walls can be constructed in sloped areas or to add separation and definition to your landscape and decks can even be constructed if there is a few days of nice weather.
Don’t forget the beautiful addition of solid rock into a landscape such as the use of boulders to accent a driveway or add a focal point to a garden. The beauty about working with rock is that it’s readily available all year round and it’s certainly not bothered by the weather.
One major benefit to having landscape construction projects done in the fall or winter is that it’s generally the slow season for most landscape professionals so you can benefit from competitive labour and any material costs. You’ll also have your new landscaping structure ready to enjoy in the coming spring.
#5. Consider a Drought Tolerant Landscape Conversion
Drought tolerant landscaping or drought resistant landscaping or “xeriscaping” is becoming a popular landscape design trend throughout the lower Island. The past few summers in the CRD region have had water restrictions and slowly but surely this new method of landscaping is taking hold as homeowners still want beautiful landscapes, without the hassles of constant watering.
Drought tolerant landscapes are designed and constructed to require minimal maintenance and watering. Your front-yard, back-yard or frontage can still look beautiful without the need to maintain elaborate gardens or lawns that require large amounts of water to stay healthy and vibrant.
Drought tolerant landscapes rely heavily on the use of hardscapes such as stone, river rock, slate, tile, concrete or wood. There are many drought resistant plants, trees shrubs (some even native to the Island) that can be used in a drought tolerant landscape design.
Fall and Winter is a great time to convert your existing landscape design into a drought resistant landscape.
#6. Landscape Lighting – See Your Landscape in a Different Light
The addition of strategically placed landscape lighting on your property will enhance the look of your property and brings with it added security benefits too.
Landscape lighting can be installed along a driveway, pathway, among gardens or flower beds or placed to showcase or add dimension to particular landscape features. Low-voltage landscape lighting can be installed for the power concious and there are even solar products available as well, although they don’t perform as well in our northern climate.
If you’d like to enhance the look and ambience about your property then look no further than a properly designed and installed landscape lighting system.
Island Pro Mowing and Landscaping Specializes in Winter Landscaping Projects
Are you interested in having any of the above projects completed on your property? Island Pro Mowing and Landscaping specializes in all aspects of lawn maintainence, gardening and landscaping. With an in-house construction team we are able to tackle many of the projects we’ve mentioned in this post.
If you’d like to receive an estimate to complete a winter landscaping project on your property then please give us a call or fill out our email form today!
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