Houzz contributor. I'm the author of several books including Sleep, Creep, Leap: The First Three Years of a Nebraska Garden. I manage Monarch Gardens, a native prairie garden consulting business for homeowners, schools and small businesses, and serve on the board for Wachiska Audubon, a prairie conservation group. A professor of English, I garden in Lincoln, Nebraska (zone 5) with an award-winning 2,000 square feet of native plants, and blog about writing and gardening at The Deep Middle.

Houzz contributor. I'm the author of several books including Sleep, Creep,... More »

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I bet you’re starting to miss the garden just a little bit. You’d give anything to feel dirt under your nails. Even a fresh scratch from a maple branch would be somehow sweet. Just as in love, it’s about the anticipation, and winter is the time to plan your spring and summer moves.

by Benjamin Vogt »

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Have you been looking out your window at the “barren” landscape and wishing for more? The term “winter interest” means something to folks like us, who have four solid seasons. We need winter interest. Start planning for structural variety so that next winter the snow creates a magical place for you and wildlife.

by Benjamin Vogt »

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Maybe you need a conifer to jazz up the winter view with some green — even one adaptable Thuja (Arborvitae) can work.

Don’t forget about leaving your dead-stemmed perennials standing; their ability to add winter interest is unmatched, and they provide cover for wildlife while catching snow to insulate their roots and crowns. Sometimes — in just the right sunlight — sparks of orange, rust, magenta and tan come alive in a garden left up for winter.

by Benjamin Vogt »

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Last year I had a sharp-shinned hawk visit my garden in winter, hunting for songbirds that take shelter (and so escape) in my garden of winter interest. Things are very much alive if you provide a place for them.

by Exteriorscapes llc »

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If you have a good coat, a mild day gives you an opportunity to work outside. Hardscape and infrastructure chores get the blood flowing.

For example, why not add a raised bed in December? You can make one out of almost any material (just don’t use treated wood, which has chemicals that leach into the soil and poison plants). Raised beds can be used for optimal vegetable gardening, for dryness-loving plants or simply to create architectural interest — even winter interest.

by Benjamin Vogt »

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A simple rain chain is something neat to have outside in winter, and it catches the crisp sunlight like an engagement ring’s diamond. You know, it is that time of year. Maybe a rain chain would be a better option for your sweetheart?

Create something beautiful with the runoff from your roof

by Benjamin Vogt »

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No matter what you do, get outside. Just because it’s cold does not mean there aren’t discoveries to be made. Get to know your garden in a season most ignore. The spent seed heads seem more visceral, and the grasses more orchestral. Find the world through the smallest and simplest pleasures. Let yourself be surprised.

by Benjamin Vogt »

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Walk the garden and plan out additions and subtractions through the bones, where you want to add some thickness, what isn’t working or is weak. Make some sketches. Take photographs to look at inside over a cup of hot cocoa.

Upload the images to a photo editor and start drawing circles; erase an entire bed and insert an enviable inspiration photo. It’s the best time of year to be interested in gardening — you can fall in love all over again as you get to know the landscape anew.