Gardens with good bones shine, the usual detail is erased and the bare bones are exposed. Trees, hedges and walls, garden pergolas and garden structures are clearly etched in the landscape and the usual stars of the winter landscape take back stage. It is the only time of the year that I really yearn for topiary. In a few years the front garden will benefit from clipped box balls and stark yew hedges that are currently in their adolescence. These evergreen workhorses form the backbone of a winter garden.
Grasses start to look bedraggled, the tight green of the taxus cuspidata provides balance to the billowy whiteness of a snow drenched landscape.