Great Lakes December Garden Checklist: Snow Care, Indoor Gardening & Holiday Decorating

Winter has arrived, and while outdoor gardening slows, the garden still inspires holiday decorating and requires a few key tasks.

DIY Front-Door Decor

Fill a vintage ice skate with garden greenery (arborvitae, Thuja occidentalis), pinecones, and bright berries (wahoo, Euonymus americanus) or rose hips. Secure with floral foam and a bow; spray conifers with anti-desiccant to keep them fresh.

Outdoor Holiday Containers

Flank entries with evergreens and dried cuttings, supplemented with purchased eucalyptus. Glittered pinecones add sparkle.

Snow Management

Heavy snow can bend or break woody plants. Gently lift and shake a broom under evergreen branches (like arborvitae ‘Elegantissima’) to remove fresh snow—never bat from the top. If snow is frozen, prop branches from underneath. Snow insulates against frost heave; mulch after the ground freezes to keep it frozen. Use shredded leaves for most plants, but airier mulch (pine straw or old Christmas tree branches) for evergreen perennials like peach-leafed bellflower (Campanula persicifolia), cardinal flowers (Lobelia), and coral bells (Heuchera).

Protect Delicate Branches When Decorating

Wrap trunks of easily damaged trees (yellowwood, Cladrastis kentukea; magnolia) with lights instead of draping branches. Place non-breakable ornaments in containers rather than hanging from fragile limbs.

Indoor Gardening Projects

Create a holiday fairy garden with variegated ivy (Hedera helix), dusty miller (Artemisia stelleriana), and Norfolk pine (Araucaria heterophylla). Force amaryllis (Hippeastrum) and paperwhites (Narcissus tazetta) indoors—support top-heavy blooms with bamboo or red dogwood stems. Water bulbs weekly; keep indoor plants and poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) moist but not soggy, in bright light away from drafts.