The key to creating and maintaining a beautiful winter landscape is preparation; you need to take the time to prepare your garden for what is about to come. This means arranging things so that maintenance can be done easily and choosing products and plants that make sure that your landscape still looks beautiful in the cold.

Factor in Snow Management

In Victoria, we get small amounts of snow, and one of the most important landscaping tips is to factor in the snow management that you’re going to need to do. Wide driveways are the best because they make it easy for plows to enter and clear the road, ensuring that you can get to and from your car safely.

But that snow needs to go somewhere, and that’s why it’s so important that you leave some room on either side of your driveway to store snow. Although it can be nice to set up borders and trees alongside your drive, it’s not practical if you get a significant amount of snow in winter.

Finally, try and avoid using smaller plants and ornaments which can easily be hidden by the snow. These are going to be incredibly easy to break, and if you’re hiring a snow management team, they aren’t going to know where those things are located.

Brighten Up with Some Lighting

Winter can be relatively bleak and with a flat white colour outside it’s difficult to create a landscape that you want to stare at and admire. Fortunately, modern technology comes to the rescue. Beautiful LED lights can bring your view to life, giving colour to what would otherwise be a barren sight.

These lights are particularly great if you have something to illuminate, like a giant tree, ornaments or a feature piece in your garden. Don’t be afraid of incorporating colors, but resist going over the top and using multi-coloured lights.

Heat Up Your Pathways

Walking in winter is one of the scariest things that you’ll ever do, a small slip could put you in the hospital or at the very least leave you with a wet patch on your back. You can prevent this relatively easy by setting up heating elements underneath your paving slabs, this will warm them slightly, just enough to cause the ice to melt and the snow to thaw.

Ideally, you should do this will a paving slab rather than concrete or cement, paving slabs tends to transfer heat better and they are relatively thin.

Implementing this kind of system after you’ve already created your landscape can be costlier, so, if possible, try and get it done before you lay the paving stones.