Take stock of your garden

Don’t let winter stop you from dreaming of sunnier — and greener — days to come

Winter can seem bleak and far removed from the lazy, hazy days of summer when a garden is in full bloom. But it just may be the perfect time to get on top of your flowers, plants and trees for the coming year, Houzz reports.

Consider assessing what worked in the garden last year and what might have to change. Do you need to scale back some areas and boost others? Is the mix of plants working?

First off, are your plants suitable for where they’re located? How does the ratio of sun and shade work to their advantage? It will help you decide if you need to relocate them to their best advantage.

Then consider the timing of the different flowers and vegetation you’ve got in mind. Try to match their growth seasons and blooming schedules with the garden as a whole so that one type of blossom leads into another so there’s always abundant colour on display.

But if the eventual demise of spring blooms left a bare spot in your coverage by summer, perhaps it’s time to think of alternative coverage plans, like strategically placed garden accessories or chairs to divert the eye.

Evaluate the colour combinations in beds and the balance between annuals and perennials to see if new plantings are needed. Consider if maybe a new tree would fill a hole, or even a fruit tree to complement your vegetable garden. And do you need to reconsider what you grew if the family didn’t really dig eating it? Radishes? Parsnips? And how successful was your anti-rabbit defence? Try changing your perspective to get a grip on what could be added. How does your garden fare vertically, like against walls or screens, as opposed to horizontally?

Finally, take stock of your tools, everything from hoes, rakes and shovels and how they’re stored, to the irrigation or watering system you employ.