Winter Silhouettes in the Garden

In the winter, more than any other season, the basic structure and outline of our garden takes on a greater importance. The rest of the year poor silhouettes can be hidden with masses of color and blooms, but in winter, with so little activity in the garden they become more noticeable.

Pleasing or interesting silhouetted plants include:

• Weeping Trees and Shrubs
• Unusual Branch Patterns
• Pyramidal/Upright Growth Habit
• Rounded/Horizontal Growth Habit

Adding Weight Generally speaking, evergreens and deciduous trees with stout, heavy limbs add weight to a garden space. Contrast that with thinner branched, deciduous trees whose structure and silhouettes are more delicate and light. Try to maintain a pleasing balance in the garden by taking these tendencies into consideration. If you planted one small deciduous tree in front of a mass of large evergreens it might end up looking pathetic and sickly in the winter. On the other hand, a group of them together could create a pleasing interlacing of delicate branches that compliment each other.

Focal Points Be aware of the surrounding sky line when it comes to focal point silhouettes. Some plants, such as a beautiful weeping tree, or the twisted branches of the ‘Harry Lauder’s walking stick’ tree, should be planted where they can be enjoyed singly. Otherwise their pleasing shapes are obscured by trees at the same level planted around them. Planting several in a row would detract for the overall shape and confuse the eye. Whereas under-planting one with small evergreens or winter flowers would help accent it, without detracting from the unique shape, which would stand out against the sky beautifully.

Snowcatchers Another use of branch shape and structure in the winter garden is to look for branching structures that will catch the snow and look fantastic doing it. The tiered-branching structure of the dogwoods are always pleasing to the eye, as are upright evergreens. Many large shade trees like the Black Oak we had in our backyard in Texas, look great holding snow through its branches. I especially am pleased with the darker colored bark that contrasts with the white snow although there are other ways to use bark for winter interest.

By learning to look at the underlying structure of the larger trees and shrubs in your garden you can learn to use their winter silhouettes more effectively in the overall landscape. See all six ways to use plants to enhance the winter garden.