Garden Jumpstart for Pre-Spring Planting

February can be a little bleak and bland here in the Pacific Northwest, especially when we aren’t getting any exciting winter weather. It’s not quite time to welcome spring even though we’ve had some beautiful and mild sunny days, but we also don’t have any snow days to enjoy at the moment. The other day in our backyard, I was admiring our little rock garden that we put in last summer. Everything was looking great after weathering the colder months, but then my attention was drawn to the muddy, weed-filled patch sitting right next to our nice little garden.

Maria Magee

It used to be a pumpkin patch, but it doesn’t get quite enough sun for pumpkins. So, it’s just been sitting there, looking ugly.

My backyard isn’t manicured by any means. Between the mess our sweet dog made before he passed away, an old fire pit, the five huge cedar trees, and the wonky but endearing treehouse my kids built, it’s actually a bit of a mismatched mess. I love my gardens and they’re nice to look at, but it just made this one area look so dull in comparison.

Fortunately, winter happens to be a great time to plant trees and shrubs! I started to look around for ideas of what I might be able to plant right now in order to make that a nice space to look at all year long. Even though nurseries and hardware stores aren’t fully stocked for spring yet, I was still able to find what I needed and thought I would share in case you’re looking to get a head start on some springtime yard improvements!

Maria Magee

I was looking for a low-maintenance, part-shade shrubs that would fill that area in and compliment the rock garden beside it along the border of our yard.

I knew I wanted some Heather because it’s a hearty, mounding shrub that does really well in this climate. I was able to find both a purple and white variety. It usually looks a lot nicer to work with an odd number of plants, so I went with five total and put the shorter ones in the front of the space. If you’re sprucing up a really small area, three would be the way to go while keeping in mind their mature size and leaving enough room for them to fill in without looking too messy.

Maria Magee

Autumn ferns grow well in this climate and add a feathery, vibrant green to any shade or part-shade garden, so that was my next choice. They also turn a gorgeous golden-red in the fall. If you have a sunnier spot, just look out for a fern variety that tolerates it.

Maria Magee

Next, was the Lenten Rose. They come in many colors, but I happened across a white variety that will really enhance this spot and compliment the green fern leaves. They have these delicate, romantic looking flowers that bloom in late winter and can be so refreshing to behold during an often-gloomy month like February.

Maria Magee

Lastly, I needed a larger but manageable shrub that would fill in the back of this refreshed yard space, and preferably brighten it up. I chose a Spring Bouquet Viburnum which is a really attractive evergreen in each season. It has these tiny, sweet-smelling, fairytale-like pink and white flower bouquets that bloom from late winter to early spring. Those little beauties then give way to unique, purplish-blue berries that will attract birds to your yard (If you’re not looking for a larger, flowering shrub, a lemon cypress tree also works great as a narrow-growth focal point for a small shrub garden. It can handle partial shade and only gets to around seven feet tall and three feet wide).

Maria Magee

Once I had all my plants, it was time to arrange them. I didn’t add anything to the soil here because it’s still decent from the years of pumpkin growing, but if you haven’t used that space, you might want to add a fresh layer of garden soil.

If you haven’t done much planting, don’t be alarmed when you slide your new shrub out of its container and the roots look like this:

Maria Magee

It’s an easy fix to get them ready to thrive in the ground. Using a hand rake tool or the jagged edge of your shovel, go around the root-bound area and saw or scrape the roots to expose them a bit. It’s not going to kill your plant! You just have to loosen them, so they don’t remain root-bound. If they aren’t too tight, you can just use your hand to squeeze and loosen some of the roots before planting.

Maria Magee

My boys often argue over who gets to help loosen the roots and love helping me dig the holes, so don’t hesitate to have your kids help you. They enjoy seeing the growth and feel proud when they’ve successfully planted a garden with you. There might be some arguing, muddy knees, lost garden gloves, or a few crushed leaves, but it’s a great learning experience and can be a sweet memory (or a crazy one that you can hopefully look back on and laugh at!).

Maria Magee

There are a few options for filling in the open dirt spaces around your new shrub garden. Once they’re in stock at the nursery, I’m going to add creeping myrtle or creeping thyme to mine, which are two of my favorite ground covers. The thyme is more compact and has an amazing scent with miniature, purplish-pink flowers (although they grow in other shades as well) that attract bees all summer. The myrtle is a little bit fuller with larger purple flowers and spreads out nicely. They’re very helpful in suppressing weeds and are also evergreens which makes them beautiful year-round. They both have a more natural, cottage-like feel when compared to beauty-bark or river rock, but any of these would add a beautiful, final touch to your spruced up space!

Maria Magee

Here is a list of some of my other favorite easy-to-grow shrubs in case you need more ideas:

Gardenia Shrub
Tater-Tot Arborvitae
Wintergreen Boxwood
Japanese Yew
Pieris
Dwarf Heavenly Bamboo (not a spreading variety)
Goldmound Spirea
Hydrangea
Winter Berry
Beauty Berry

Add some extras like solar garden lights or adorable gnomes for a whimsical feel, or a garden globe and bird bath! As you’re watching winter come to a close and are dreaming of spring, I hope I’ve inspired you to get planting and to make an old (and perhaps ugly) area of your yard, new again.