Last Updated on December 30, 2020 by HodgePodgeDays
We spend a good portion of the warmer months in our gardens making them look fantastic and so that we can enjoy the weather outside. Yet when the season turns and the sun starts to go away, we abandon our gardens to fend for themselves, just to have to face battle in spring again. But why should that happen? There are so many ways in which you can enjoy your garden in the winter – just because you can’t sunbathe in it doesn’t mean that it has lost its appeal or use.
Lighting
With the nights drawing in, why not use fairy lights and solar-powered spotlights to add a bit of magic to your garden and turn your garden into a winter wonderland. You might not want to go and sit out in the snow and frost all night, but enjoying the view from inside is still a lovely way of appreciating your garden. Using lights like this can be a year-round thing, so no need to pack them away and put them back out every few months. Using solar-powered lights and lanterns.
Hot Tub
Now, this is something you’ll enjoy regardless of the cold weather. Pop it on and heated up, then quick foot it into the cloud of warm steam and hot, relaxing water. You’ll feel like you’re up in the Alps while you sit in your warm bubble looking out over your wonderfully lit garden. Create a great place to hang out in this heated area with portable heaters and bar seating under a porch or eves and enjoy a hot chocolate or a glass of mulled wine.
Events
During the summer months you probably filled your garden with BBQs, family, and friends, and you can still do the same in the winter. Well, maybe not light up the BBQ – but you can cook the same things inside on disposable BBQs for that great charred taste. You might have to wrap up warm to enter your own back garden, but fireworks and sparklers make it all worth it. Make sure to check the area for hibernating animals before you start setting rockets off. And if you find some, relocate your fireworks, not the animal.
Hibernation
While on the topic of hibernating animals, your garden can become a haven for animals over the winter. You can simply enjoy your garden by knowing that it is providing a safe home for so many through the winter. Frogs, mice, rabbits and hedgehogs are common hibernating animals through the colder months. You can help them by letting your grass grow, providing warm nests for them, placing hedgehog homes in the bushes in your garden, and laying out appropriate food around the time they will be venturing back out.
If you have a pond, make sure that the sides are level or have a slight slope so that any critters who fell in while looking for a drink can easily climb back out. Birds who don’t migrate during the winter, and non-hibernating animals like squirrels and some types of bat, have a very limited food source during winter, so lay out some appropriate food for them. When building a snowman/fort be careful of where you’re grabbing the snow from – frogs and toads freeze over in winter, usually under slabs or logs, so check before you grab, and double-check before adding any wood to a fire.