Technically speaking, winter isn’t the greatest time of the year for people that love gardening and spending time in the outdoor spaces of their property. The summer blooms and lush green lawns give way to brown and orange hues and the damp, chilly and cloudy weather does little to nothing for the health of the plants in your landscape.

While there isn’t much you can do about trees shedding their leaves and twigs, there is one way to ensure that your landscape doesn’t look entirely bare and drab in the winter. The fact is that plants that are native to the region would be able to survive the winter cold much better than plants and trees that aren’t.

Here are some plants and trees for winter landscaping in South Texas:

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  Shrubs and trees with berries grow very well in the cold winter months and they mature beautifully to their final colors.

• Carolina snailseed or Cocculus carolinus is a native vine that has bright red berries. While you won’t find this vine for sale in local nurseries, if you do see this particular plant growing somewhere, pull out some of the berries, sow them and grow them adjacent to the fence on your property. When the vine grows you can trail it over the fence and the color of the berries will add a very cheery look to the fencing installation.
• You can also grow hollies on your fence or any other trellis structure. Keep in mind that not all holly plants have berries; but you can look for species such as possumhaw, yaupon holly, and American holly. All of these are native to Texas.
• Possumhaw holly shrubs lose their leaves in the winter time and the orangish-red berries lend a pop of color to your garden.
• Yaupon Holly is an evergreen tree that is an excellent landscaping specimen. It has small, green leaves and red berries.
• You can also plant dogwoods; they have very quaint spring flowers; but in the winter time, once they have shed all their leaves, the beautiful red berries make for a stunning display. Dogwoods also have a blocky patterned bark that looks great in a winter landscape.

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  Not many plants have winter flowers, but they aren’t entirely non-existent. Annuals such as stock, snapdragons, and pansies are hardy and they make for great winter landscape plantings.

• By December, the paperwhite narcissus sprout sweet-smelling flowers and these bloom each year to add to the cheeriness of your landscape. There are other varieties of narcissus that you can plant as well.
• You can get evergreen perennials such as Lenten Rose or Hellebores installed in various spots in your landscape. These are true winter plants that start blooming in these months. They grow beautifully in shaded places in your yard and you should consider planting some of these on your property.
• Camellias are the other evergreen shrubs you can plant; they start to bloom in the fall and continue to do so right through the winter months until early spring.
• The other small tree/large shrub you can plant are witch hazel. Ornamental grasses look stunning in the cold winter months and the attractive plumes of flowers atop the dried foliage make a pretty sight. Add a mix-and-match of these different annuals or perennials to your winter landscape.
• If you want to know more about any Landscaping service, feel free to call us on (210) 765-8667. You can also fill in the contact us form or email us at nadia@dnslandscaping.net