Winter has its own unique beauty, but over time, the gloomy days and seemingly endless nights can wear on you. The longer it goes, the more you dream of long, warm summer nights and beautiful, bright colors all around.
If you’re feeling a bit of cabin fever, seeing nothing but gray and gloom around you for what feels like days on end, there’s something you can do about it. Right now!
Here are ten winter landscaping ideas you can use to make your surroundings a little more cheery!
1. Hanging Lights
After the holidays, landscape lighting makes hardscape structures stand out and creates winter focal points. Putting lanterns on an empty patio table or arbor can cast a warm glow over an otherwise gloomy corner of the yard.
2. Topiaries
Topiaries made without living plants are the most cold-hardy. Try making your own faux topiaries with grapevine balls and faux trees.
It’s easy to construct DIY topiaries and store them away during the warmer months, and then bring them out again in time for the first frost the next season.
3. Berry Wreaths
Display various grapevine wreaths punctuated with bright berries; if you use real berries, the pop of color will create a smorgasbord for birds as well.
4. String lights
String lights aren’t just for the holidays. They can be used all year long to create a fun atmosphere. You can set them in decorative glass lanterns on your porch, for example, to ward off winter’s bleakness.
5. Winter bird feeder garlands
You can decorate your evergreen trees throughout the winter with feeder garlands made just for the wildlife. Decorative strands of cranberry, nuts, and small fruits like grapes and blueberries will add beauty to your yard – and food for hungry birds, squirrels and other wildlife.
6. Ice luminary
You can transform even the most desolate winter night into a world of ethereal radiance with ice luminaries. Instead of candles, use battery-operated tea lights or LEDs for a lasting glow.
Use a variety of methods and molds to produce an artful orb of ice. Use ice buckets, balloons, or even a Bundt pan to create the perfect shape for your lights.
7. Colored ice
A tweak on the above suggestion, you can create colored ice shapes that will sparkle and shine, at least until the temperatures rise.
Colored ice balls add a little variety to winter’s gray palette. Simply pour food coloring and water into balloons and then leave outside overnight to freeze. When the water has frozen, cut the balloons off the ice, and you will have colorful, sparkling decorations.
8. Brightly colored birdhouse
A cheery birdhouse (or feeder) distracts from the dead landscaping of winter. Bright paint brings welcome brightness in a winter wonderland that would otherwise be gray, and the functional yard accent provides refuge and refreshment for winged wildlife.
9. DIY snowflakes
Arrange picket fence pieces into a snowflake pattern and attach them to a large stake or pole to create whimsical snowflakes for your winter yardscape.
Besides being easy to make, these decorations make your yard look its best, even if there’s no sign of snow on the horizon.
10. Mailbox makeover
Giving your mailbox a bright coat of paint is a simple and inexpensive painting project you can do in winter. Spray paint won’t adhere to a cold surface, so bring the mailbox indoors to a garage or workshop that is well ventilated and warm.
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