Beyond Plants: Creating Focal Points for a Wonderful Winter Garden

When designing for year-round interest, we often select evergreens for foliage and texture. Frozen grasses and seed heads add sculpture; berries and colorful twigs provide color in a monochromatic snowy world. But where does your eye rest? Is there a focal point that lingers or invites exploration? Structures—sheds, arbors, fences, sculptures—can create winter focal points when thoughtfully placed and framed by plants.

To be effective, these pieces must be clearly visible in winter, framed rather than smothered by plants, creating winter vignettes that add drama to the bare-bones garden.

Arbors, Archways, and Pergolas

This arbor, a trio of simple arches connected by rope swags, marks the entry to a large mixed border. Its transparency frames plants beyond rather than obscuring them. While tempting to cover with climbing roses or vines, the open silhouette and material combination would be lost. Instead, low shrubs and perennials flank the path, framing the focal point. In frost, weathered wood and rope become part of the monochromatic scene yet stand apart.

Cabins and Garden Sheds

Many gardens have a shed—for tools, potting, or a guesthouse/writing studio. A shed is a significant structure that can become a winter focal point. Unlike an open arbor, solid walls obscure the garden beyond but become a perfect screen for viewing wispy seed heads and grasses. Fine textures disappear into a hazy muddle in open garden, but projected against cabin walls, each detail is focused.

Plantings are kept low to frame the building; a paperbark maple acts as a punctuation point with peeling bark and a slender silhouette preventing monotony. Without the cabin, it's an interesting tapestry; with it, it's a true winter garden with an enticing path toward an inviting focal point.

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Sculptures and Garden Art

From large installations to whimsical craft fair pieces, we buy garden art because it speaks to us. So why hide it? Place artwork where you can enjoy it from inside on a cold day, considering its association with adjacent plants. Plants should enhance, not compete with, the sculpture.

This dramatic stone sculpture at Denver Botanic Gardens has an imposing presence; tall grasses to one side increase its significance in the bare winter landscape. The juxtaposition of cold, hard stone with coarse frozen grass, plus subtle color echoes, creates an arresting focal point—equally impressive but different in other seasons.

Small pieces are easily moved; don't be afraid to relocate for better winter viewing. This simple heron looks like a dark shadow among reeds, partially obscured as in the wild. Careful placement creates a natural scene—an evergreen hedge or solid wall would not look realistic nor let the metal bird show up.

Fences and Benches

Fences can be design elements themselves. This unadorned swagged fence has sculptural quality in the open winter landscape. A bench, functional in warm months, still invites us outside on cold days and becomes a focal point in snow. Here, fence and bench work together to create a winter vignette, softened by pale wispy grasses.

Birdhouses

Not all focal points must be large or expensive. A simple weathered birdhouse captures attention if placed appropriately. In a large landscape it could be lost; site it near the home for window viewing or at a garden entry. Grasses again play a role—subtle framing while keeping the birdhouse visible.