Ways to Brighten Your Yard in Winter

Winter can be beautiful, but it can also leave your yard feeling a little unloved. Don’t let Jack Frost ban you from your backyard until spring has sprung. We have rounded up some great ways to brighten up your space until the sun comes back out to play.

Fireside Chats

Fireplaces are useful for warming up in the wintery months, but the area around them is typically is sized for just one or two people. Fire pits, however, are the crowd’s fireplace. While sitting around a fire pit with family and friends may initially sound like something you’d do on the beach, it’s also a great way to get use out of your backyard in the chillier months. Increasingly popular are fire pits that channel a little of the owner’s personality in the design. For example, if you are a fan of a popular film series set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, you might be surprised at some of the creative ways people have incorporated that love into fire pits. Others go for a look that’s less campy and more camping with rugged stones or rocks, building the fire pit into the ground. Once you’ve picked the look and feel, find a space in your backyard or on a patio to place the fire pit, load it up with firewood and surround it with comfy chairs. You’ll be roasting chestnuts over an open fire in no time. Or maybe s’mores – we’re not sure we know anyone who has actually roasted chestnuts on an open fire.

Winter Wonder-plants

Pine trees and mistletoe aren’t the only plants that thrive when it gets chilly outside. Camellias and hellebores are beautiful, bright blooms that flower in winter. Planting multiple kinds will turn your backyard in a crayon box of dazzling, delicate shades. If freezes are infrequent, pansies and snapdragons make colorful choices. Ornamental kale is also a beautifully-hued option. Red cornus, erica and holly, winter shrubs, also add a striking pop of red against the grey and white landscape of winter. When choosing any of these plants, look for good leaf color, indicating a healthy plant. They’ll need to be sturdy to survive the snow. Pull that green thumb out of winter hibernation and get planting!

Let There be Light

One of the major drawbacks of winter is the limited daylight hours. Don’t let that stop you from enjoying your yard – let there be light! Brighten up pathways to your home and position landscape lighting sporadically amongst your landscaping. It will create a charming ambience, especially when you pair it with the fire pit from above. There’s a reason people put up lights for the holidays; it makes the season (and living spaces) bright!

Color Me Happy

When the sky is grey, and the ground is grey (let’s be honest, snow doesn’t stay pretty white for long), and your walls are grey and your house is grey, your mood can get a little, well, grey. Inject a little color into your mood by giving exterior doors or fences a bright coat of paint. Cherry red makes a festive choice for doors, while dark blue provides a more classic tone. Looking for something a little modern? Yellow doors lend an updated spin on this focal point. Luckily for you, GCD already offers these fun, bright colored doors, but if you still live somewhere else, this is a great way to make your space pop. (Just make sure you live in an area where you can paint these parts of your home before busting out the paintbrush. Some neighborhoods have restrictions on colors.)

At GCD, we know memories made in the great outdoors with families and friends last a lifetime; don’t relegate them to a single season! Make your yard a winter wonderland with these simple tricks, and soon you might find yourself spending more time outside than in! At least until the flurries start falling.