More Tips to Make Your Winter Landscaping Pop
Have Hardscape Elements
In the winter you need to rely on your hardscape, so anything non-living, such as patios, brick work, walls, fountains, arches, etc. Wooden archways especially can be used for vines in the summer and still make your landscaping stand out in winter.
Use Year Round Perennials
Even though most plants do not have flowers in the winter, you can still use plants that keep some foliage on them so they give your landscaping some color. Plants like hellebores and dianthus, and some ornamental grasses will give you this effect.
Decorate Containers
The containers and pots you have around your house can be spruced up for winter! You can add some pine branches or small fake evergreens to make them look nice, or use some colorful ribbon to give them a pop of color. Same with the wooden vine arches mentioned previously and even fountains, you can adorn them with winter decorations such as ribbon, or for fountains that do not run in the winter you could add some large decorative ornaments in the bowls of the fountain.
How to Drive on Snow and Ice – Myth Vs. Fact
1. Winter tires are only useful when there is snow on the ground.
Not true. Winter tires not only handle better with snow, they also have better traction in the cold in general. These tires stay more pliable so there is more contact with cold pavement.
2. An emergency kit is not necessary if you are close to home.
You should always have an emergency kit in your car. As we saw recently with the negative temperatures, frostbite could set in within minutes, and even if you are just going 5 minutes down the road, if something happens to your car, it would be better to wait for help then try and get home in dangerous conditions.
3. It is safest to drive behind a snowplow.
The road will be the clearest behind the plow, but make sure you are staying far enough back so that you are not in a blind spot. The recommended distance is 70 feet. This is also so the blowing snow will not block your visibility.