Winter projects for gardeners

The cold weather and snow came early this year, forcing us indoors to endure a long wait until spring. Working on these garden-related projects may help the time pass and result in new focal points for your landscape.

-- Plant a dwarf evergreen in a beautiful large container. These small trees are winter-hardy and add year-round interest to an entryway or patio. For seasonal interest, put pansies and evergreen ivy at the base.

-- Put your empty summertime containers to work. Fill them with large magnolia leaves, evergreen branches, holly or other berries and some large pine cones for a beautiful accent that will last all winter.

-- Collect all those mail-order “seed catalogs” that are arriving in your mailbox, fix yourself a hot cup of coffee, tea or cocoa, and settle down on a comfy couch to browse the pretty pictures and daydream about what new plants to add to your garden in the spring. Many gardeners prefer to buy locally from nearby nurseries and never order anything from the catalogs, but use the catalogs for ideas and useful information.

-- Do a little indoor gardening. Lavalette Nursery has a large greenhouse full of subtropicals to choose from. For a bit of whimsy, plant them in an unusual container, such as this old boot.

-- Construct this twist on the trendy “bottle tree” idea, inspired from a summer tour of gardens in Charleston, W.Va. Mount dowel rods into a base, paint them and invert the color bottles on top. Next spring, it’ll be a focal point of your landscape.

-- During the warmer days of winter, start on a new outdoor project. One idea for a small hillside is this new version of a rock garden. The decorative stones hold the soil in place and provide “planting pockets” for dwarf shrubs and other plants. For instant gratification, add some winter-hardy plants now. In the spring, choose from a wide variety of small annuals to provide color until fall.