Garden design doesn’t stop upon the initial completion of a garden installation. Now is the perfect time of year to reevaluate your garden and execute or plan any changes that you may see fit for spring.

With the exception of most plants in the evergreen family, the garden plantings will look dead or gone from the garden entirely during the cold winter months in Lunenburg. This is the perfect time to observe the structure or “hard scape” of the garden, un-obstructed by all the beauty of the plants in it.

Some structural elements in the garden made of metal or wood may need some maintenance. Now is a good time to do it while the plants are sleeping and not in the way of such activity. You may also want to add or move decorative figures, bird houses, bird baths, arbors, benches and the like.

The garden should be pleasing to the gardener’s eye all year round. Everyone’s opinion of beauty is different. I like to see a few evergreen plantings throughout the garden so I have some green remaining during winter. I also leave the dried stalks and flower seed pods until the very early spring. It provides some natural structural elements in the garden against the evergreens, and provides a limited food source and cover for wildlife and birds during the harsh weather.

Small “patio” gardens should not be overlooked due to their size and scale in winter. The pots they are planted in and the porches or decks they are on would be considered structural elements. They can be moved around easily and if you have perennials planted in them you may want to move them to provide some additional shelter from the elements. If you have small evergreen shrubs or trees in them you may want to move them so they can be seen from the indoors.

I have a potted garden in one of the alcoves of my home. During the winter I put up a temporary bird feeder. My pets and I enjoy watching the birds at the feeder and amongst the pots from the window indoors.

Every year it is expected that I will be adding at least two or maybe three new plants to my garden. To my dear husband’s chagrin it has also become expected that I will no doubt be moving plantings in the garden and potted foliage around from one location to another. The idea of digging up plants from their firmly rooted spots totally freaks him out, for he was convinced by doing so the end result would be the ultimate demise of the once flourishing flower. Over time and repeated successful relocations he has come to expect the change or “evolution by design” as I like to call it that is perpetual in my gardens.

This winter we have been blessed with the beauty of two substantial snow falls to date. I see it as Nature’s way of providing us with a special snow covered glimpse of the garden we don’t often get to see here in the south. The opportunity to enjoy the winter wonderland scenes in the garden have definitely been a treat.

Dawn Conrad is a columnist for The Kenbridge-Victoria Dispatch and can be reached at conrad.gardenmuse@ gmail.com or fb.me/conrad.gardenmuse.