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Does anyones garden look dull now their wildflowers are gone?

trevor.bigginstrevor.biggins Posts: 6
in Plants
A bit of a pointless post :smiley: but I'm working from home today, looking out my window, and my garden looks boring now my wildflowers are gone (roll on spring :smile: )






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  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    When I look at my garden in winter I see what I hope it's going to look like in the coming year. I know there are bulbs and roots full of promise under the ground, they are just having a rest before springing into life again.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    When I look out, I see dead soggy stuff and wet fallen leaves. When it dries up a bit, I'll clear up the worst of it and then , when I can see the bare soil, I will look forward to spring.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    When I scythed our "meadow" in summer I left some patches of wild carrot, St John's Wort and knapweed, because they were still flowering and being visited by insects.  I've left those patches standing through the winter, partly to provide seeds for the birds (there was a pair of goldfinches on the knapweed this morning), and also because it looks more interesting than rough grass until the bulbs come through.  
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited December 2022
    B3 said:
    When I look out, I see dead soggy stuff and wet fallen leaves. When it dries up a bit, I'll clear up the worst of it and then , when I can see the bare soil, I will look forward to spring.
    Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I avoid bare soil like the plague.  I have chestnut, beech and liquidambar leaves lying colourfully on the ground.  Glowing in the sun and deeper in the wet.  I need to get them off the grass and onto the bare soil, soon.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • coccinellacoccinella Posts: 1,428
    Well, the garden is decaying but the visiting birds make up for it. I just wish there were more (quite a decline in recent years) All the leaves that I leave on the ground are upturned by blackbirds looking for critters. It is almost a dance.

    Luxembourg
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    I totally changed my garden about twenty years ago for the same reason. My garden is a medium size and now two thirds of the plants have something to add during the winter months. Out went alot of the messy plants that needed to be cut to the ground.

    Now the whole garden is set out so that there is mix of evergreen shrubs, deciduous shrubs which have interesting winter shapes and textures, grasses, ferns and plants with seed heads.

    You start with one border and work your way round the whole garden with a rhythm and mix of the above plants changing the heights up and down as you go. That holds everything together There will be gaps from the other third of plants that need cutting back but support will be given by those that remain.

     When I started this project it made me stop and think everytime I added a new plant instead of buying a plant because I liked it I approached it differently. Every plant has to add to the rhythm and shapes created by all the other surrounding plants. If it didn't I wouldn't buy it.

    I hope this is helpful, I am very pleased with my garden at the moment. As for the other three seasons they naturally take care of themselves with a few additions of colour.
    You should be able to enjoy your garden all year. 


    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • newbie77newbie77 Posts: 1,838
    My garden looks better in winter and spring than in summer. Lawn is green, and there are lots of evergreen shrubs. Camellias and hellebores will start from January and go on until other things start to flower. 
    South West London
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    I also garden for all seasons, both for the visual effects and for the wildlife. Gardens need some winter structure, shrubs and perennials that stand brown through the winter (like some of the grasses, Teasels, Phlomis russelliana). These look great, especially when frosted, and provide places for insects to hide ready for the birds to eat them


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    I agree@nutcutlet if lots of plants are cut to the ground in winter insects loose their winter homes. All part of an ecologically balanced garden.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
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