Ad
While it’s easy to stay cosy indoors in winter, it’s important this year more than ever before to get some fresh air each day. It is more evident than ever after a year spent largely stuck at home, just how many benefits fresh air has for both our physical and mental health. Though it’s a bigger operation to get everyone wrapped up warm and layered up ahead of going outdoors, it’s worth it for making sure everyone can burn off some energy, breathe clean air and see different environments other than our own four walls.
Here are some creative and fun ways that you and your family can get outdoors into the garden and spend time together this winter…
Winter plants
Believe it or not, there are actually a lot of plants that can survive and thrive in our gardens even at the peak of winter. Why not spend some time in the run-up to Christmas planting a range of flowers, vegetables or even herbs so you have a range of produce by the time it comes to making Christmas dinner?
Winter flowers
- Holly bushes
- Poinsettia
- Witch hazel
- Snowdrops
- Winter flowering pansies
Winter vegetables
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Radish
- Spring onions
- Sprouts
- Leeks
- Parsnips
- Turnips
Herbs
- Coriander
- Rocket
- Spinach
- Thyme
- Rosemary – you can use these to season your roast potatoes on Christmas day!
As you can see, there is a whole host of winter plants and veg to consider planting at this time of year. Aside from winter planting though, it’s important to pay attention to the health of your lawn in the winter months. Regular mowing on milder days, the collecting of fallen leaves and professional lawn treatments can all help to keep your lawn alive and kicking even at the coldest times of the year. Greensleeves specialise in seasonal treatments, using industry-leading lawn care products and tools to keep your lawn in top condition all year round.
Composting
Another winter garden activity to get stuck into is composting. It might be considered a messy job but creating a compost heap is a great way to get everyone involved and even give your kids some responsibility at this time of year.
You can have leaf collecting challenges by either picking up as many leaves as you can or seeing who can rake the biggest leaf piles. Gathering leaves, food waste and more is a great way to pass some time and create a heap with a healthy mixture of wet, dry, green and brown materials to ensure your compost is active.
Compost heaps need turning regularly to make sure oxygen can circulate; a great job to designate and rotate between the family to share some responsibility and make sure everyone is getting some much-needed fresh air.
Garden crafts
As well as doing some planting and composting, why not get crafty outdoors too? There are plenty of festive crafts to try your hand at, such as creating winter garlands out of dried fruits, painting garden pots in Christmassy colours to add some character to your garden and even creating your own Christmas wreaths out of plants in the garden.
Instead of spending a fortune on a new wreath for your front door, why not make something more personal as a family with a mixture of holly leaves, berries, dried fruit and more to create a decoration that means something to everyone.
Bird shelters and feeders
Finally, it’s important to think about our natural wildlife at this time of year. Although animals are built to either hibernate or handle the colder climates, there are still things we can do to make it a bit easier for our birds. You can create birdhouses out of plastic containers, clean paint cans, scraps of wood or twigs, milk cartons and much more. Get creative to build a cosy yet safe environment for your local birds to enjoy and shelter from the biting cold or British drizzle.
If you have a birdhouse from the previous year, it’s best to clean these out so they are ready for a new bird family to discover and safely shelter in.