Gifford Garden Notes
Gardening for Winter Interest (continued)
by Diane Fagergren
This is the last article in the series "Gardening for Winter Interest". I just wanted to touch on a few things dealing with hardscaping. First off, what is "hardscaping"? Any aesthetic element that is "constructed" will fall into this category. Stone walls, terraces, brick walks, arbors, pergolas, obelisks, and trellises are all examples. These types of installations can give the garden some parameters, helping to define the outdoor living area. During the warmer months when the garden is lush with foliage, they become a place for your eye to rest. A landscape full of vegetation and flowers can be enhanced greatly by a simple obelisk or arbor and the same is true when the earth is blanketed in snow.
This last summer, Gifford Garden participated in the Dutchess County Fair. Included in our display was an arbor constructed out of an old garden fence that we recycled. It now frames the entrance to my vegetable garden.
I can't believe how the placement of that structure changed the feeling in the backyard. You no longer look past the raised beds filled with colorful vegetables to the back property line. Your eye stops and rests on the arbor and takes notice of the room that has been created. The garden itself has been transformed into an outdoor living area. The same effect is present in the winter months. With
the grayed foliage of various herbs poking up through the snow and the arbor acting as a backdrop, the view from the window is much more inviting. I am anxious to see the arbor in the summer supporting morning glories or even some prolific cucumber vines!
Now is the time of year when I begin to get rather anxious for spring. If you are like me at all, you can't wait to get your hands back into the earth. To help pacify these feelings, I thought I would force some forsythia to bloom in the warm house by simply cutting branches and placing them in a vase of water. Pussy willow, witch hazel, flowering quince, cherry, redbud, and silver bells can all be forced now. Come March, you can start forcing crabapple, ornamental pear, dogwood, magnolia, and serviceberry. This and a few flower shows may help to shake away the winter blues.
Gifford Garden Archives, January 2003 - present
Gifford Garden Archives, July 2001 - January 2003