Get your garden ready for 2025
Beautiful gardens rarely happen by accident. They’re the result of thoughtful planning and care, every month of the year.
As 2025 approaches, now is the perfect time to dream, plan, and take steps to make your outdoor space truly shine.
For gardeners in Glasgow and the surrounding areas, the Scottish climate presents unique challenges—but also incredible opportunities. By choosing the right plants for the spaces in your garden, and preparing the ground with care and attention, your garden can thrive through every season.
Let me guide you through the key steps to prepare your garden for 2025 and show you how my new ‘2025 Garden Assessment and Action Plan’ can help bring your vision to life.
Why winter is the perfect time to plan your garden
Winter might seem like an unusual time to focus on gardening, but I truly believe that this is the season when the magic happens. The garden is at rest,and many plants are quietly preparing beneath the soil for their spring awakening. Simultaneously, us humans are in a period of quiet reflection, taking some much needed down time after winter festivities. This is an ideal time to dream, and to set intentions and make plans for the gardening year ahead.
In winter, we need to look at assessing the structure (or lack thereof!) in the garden. Careful thought can be put into planning for seasonal transitions, to ensure there is something of interest and in flower, every month of the year. This won’t only bring you lots of joy, it will really help the bees and other pollinating insects in your garden too.
Ask yourself these questions….
Could your winter garden use some evergreen shrubs, ornamental grasses or flowering plants to add some sparkle and interest during the cold and dark months?
Would you like to see more spring colour, when the days start to get longer and the days get lighter and brighter?
Is your summer garden in need of a boost, a refresh or a good injection of new colour?
By planning now, you’ll set the foundation for a stunning garden that transitions seamlessly from winter to spring and beyond.
How to Prepare Your Garden for 2025
Here’s a breakdown of how to approach your garden, season by season, to ensure it thrives throughout the year:
Making Your Winter Garden Shine
Winter gardens can be beautiful and full of character, even in our cold climate. Focus on:Evergreens and winter-flowering plants: Add plants like Hellebores, Pulmonaria, Hamamelis and Viburnum bodnatense ‘Dawn’ for colourful flowers. Evergreen shrubs such as Mahonia, Viburnum tinus, Camellias and Rhododendrons add structure, as well as flowers.
Seasonal interest: The colourful bark of Cornus ‘Midwinter Fire’, Cornus sericea ‘Flaviramea’ and Cornus ‘Alba’ are so beautiful on a bleak winter day. Frosted seed heads of spent perennials create visual appeal. My absolute favourite plants of all for winter interest are tall grasses such as Calamagrostis and Miscanthus - they add height and movement, and catch the frosts so beautifully. Wildlife support: Incorporate bird feeders and bird baths to attract wildlife during the colder months. Leave the tidying up of flower beds until spring, to provide habitat for hibernating insects.
Transitioning from Winter to Early Spring
Early spring is when the garden starts to wake up, and so do many of the insects which have been hibernating over winter. Make sure there is plenty of good nectar and pollen waiting for them in your garden, to give them a good feed and get their year off to the best start. You will love seeing all the colour and flowers too!Plant early-flowering bulbs such as snowdrops, winter aconites, crocuses, daffodils, muscari and alliums for early colour that will last until the herbaceous perennials come into flower
Start preparing beds and borders by tidying up old debris, and mulching beds with garden compost, or shop bought compost, to give plants a good feed and some support while they come into flower
Looking Ahead to Summer and Autumn
Planning for summer and autumn begins now. Consider:Reviewing your garden’s layout: Are there areas that could be redesigned or enhanced with new planting schemes?
Adding lots of late-flowering summer perennials to extend the season of interest in your summer garden. Some of my favourites are Eupatorium, Fennel, Veronicastrum virginicum, Sedum, Asters and Rudbeckia
Choosing plants with late-season interest, including ornamental grasses, will extend the garden’s beauty into autumn.
The 2025 Garden Assessment and Action Plan
To help you navigate this process, I’m excited to be offering my ‘2025 Garden Assessment and Action Plan.’ This one-on-one consultation is tailored to your garden’s unique needs and will set you up for a year of success.
Here’s what’s included:
A one-hour consultation with me, in your garden, where we’ll assess its current state and potential.
A written report summarising our discussion and providing actionable recommendations for winter, spring, summer, and autumn.
Advice on plant selection, layout improvements, and steps to bring your dream garden to life.
This plan is perfect for gardeners in Glasgow and the surrounding areas who want to create a space that thrives year-round.
Start Your Gardening Journey Today
Gardens are living, breathing artworks which require lots of care and attention. 2025 can be the year you transform your outdoor space into something truly special. Winter is the ideal time to plan, so don’t wait.
To book your 2025 Garden Assessment and Action Plan, or to learn more, get in touch today:
📧 nicola@thebonniegardener.co.uk
📞 07725 638 246
Let’s make your dream garden a reality!
