How to enhance holiday landscapes

Updated Dec 12, 2017
Photo: Courtesy of Gardener’s Supply CompanyPhoto: Courtesy of Gardener’s Supply Company

Adding holiday lighting to your business can go a long way for you and your clients.

Holiday landscaping can range from very large projects to small ones.

Gardening expert Melinda Myers, who has a master’s degree in horticulture, more than 30 years of experience and has written more than 20 gardening books, has offered eight tips to help brighten any landscape this season.

Add some solar powered accents. Light a pathway, a favorite tree or front porch without installing additional outlets. Look for unique colors and shapes like the solar star lantern or the changing colors of northern lights spheres for added appeal. The wide variety now available can help create a memorable winter display. Be sure to select solar accents that provide hours of enjoyment when fully charged.

Create an outdoor holiday tree. Decorate a few evergreen trees and shrubs with birdseed ornaments. Holiday shapes made of energy rich birdseed and suet give the trees a holiday flare, while providing important food for birds to enjoy.

Light up winter containers. Fill a weather-proof planter with potting mix or play sand. Stick the cut end of greens in the potting mix or sand to create an attractive display. Add some colorful berries, decorative twigs and ribbon. Then add some height and light to the winter container with fiber optic solar lights.

Increase color and motion with the help of heated birdbaths. Attract greater numbers and variety of birds by providing water year round. Northern landscapers should consider heated birdbaths to insure water is available even during the coldest months. Further help the birds by adding a few stones or branches to the birdbath. This allows the birds to drink without getting wet; helping them to preserve their body heat.

Create outdoor lights. Line pathways, accent plantings or dress up fence posts with ice globe luminaries. Use colorful outdoor LED lights or tea candles to light up blocks or spheres of ice.

Add livable art. Hang a few colorful and unique birdhouses in a backyard. They provide color and whimsy to the winter garden and will be ready for feathered friends to move in this spring.

Include a “gingerbread” house for the birds. Hang decorative birdseed houses from a shepherds crook or tree branch. Look for a sheltered, but open area where the birds can watch for predators while enjoying their winter feast.

Move a holiday tree outdoors. Place a cut tree in a snow bank, vacant spot in the garden or make it part of a bird feeding station. The tree provides some extra greenery in the often drab winter landscape as well as shelter for the visiting birds. Then add a few of those birdseed ornaments for added food and winter decoration.

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