Can Gardens Be Landscaped in Winter?
For many homeowners, the very idea of working outdoors all day every day in wintery conditions fills them with dread. But there are plenty of advantages to having your garden landscaped in winter. And yes, professional landscapers do work all year round.
Why Choose to Have Your Garden Landscaped in Winter?
- Your outdoor spaces are not in demand for family activities. First and foremost, winter time is when you are least likely to want to be outdoors for any longer than necessary. And just as importantly, your neighbours are less likely to be disrupted by any dust or noise.
- Problems with drainage are more noticeable in winter and can be diagnosed, tackled and tested while landscaping works are ongoing.
- Hot dry weather is unhelpful to some aspects of landscaping. Health and safety is also an issue - it’s easy to put on an extra coat to get warm in winter but there’s a limit to what anyone can take off to cool down in summer. Especially when working with power tools.
- Landscapers may have more availability in the winter months. Although many APL members say that their services are in demand all year round.
- Working with concrete type products is more efficient in cooler weather. Essential landscaping materials such as primers, mortar, grouts and cement need to be kept wet - if they dry out too quickly, they won’t form strong bonds with pavers, bricks and the like. In summer time, experienced landscapers will mix up small batches at a time in order to keep the materials workable. However, it’s far more time-efficient to mix larger batches - which is entirely possible in winter time.
- Most plants are dormant in winter and are less likely to be adversely affected if they are dug up and moved.
- Wildlife is least likely to be disturbed by groundworks during the winter months. Birds will not be nesting and any overwintering insects will have tucked themselves right out of harms way.
- By the time summer arrives, your garden will be beautifully landscaped and ready for you to entertain friends and family.
The Practicalities of Building Gardens in Winter
Every single season and weather type in Britain has advantages and disadvantages for building gardens. In winter, as you’d imagine, the soil is more likely to be cold, sticky and heavy. Shorter daylight hours also mean that your landscapers might go home a little earlier than they would in the summer months - unless of course they feel able to work with floodlights.
Does that mean that your project will take longer to complete than it would in summer? That’s a difficult question to answer, it all depends on the size and complexity of the project. One thing you can be certain of though, if you have hired an APL registered landscaper, they will discuss timelines with you before they start work.
Prosessional landscapers are adept at working in all conditions. They know precisely how to project manage so that materials can be installed properly. And they know how to take care of the soil, working to avoid creating a mud bath or compacting areas that will be used for planting.
Sometimes, aspects of the build may be postponed until the weather is more suitable. This can be frustrating for everyone involved, but it’s better to wait a while and have the work completed safely and properly than it is to forge ahead and potentially create problems in the future. Just for the record - postponements can happen at any time of year - it’s one of the perils of building things outdoors.
For you, as a client, having your garden landscaped at any time of year should be a pleasant and stress-free experience. It’s exciting to watch a whole new garden appear literally from the ground up. The secret to enjoying having your garden landscaped in winter (or at any time of year) is to hire landscaping professionals with the right skills sets, experience and work ethic.
When you have made the right choice of professional, you can be confident that the work will be carried out to a high standard, whatever the weather.
Members of the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) are all carefully vetted by industry experts to ensure that their work reaches the highest possible standards, that they are appropriately insured and that their business practices are all above-board.
If you are considering a garden makeover, it’s easy to find an APL member. Simply use the search tool on our website to find garden designers, landscapers and professional gardeners working in your area.
