Adding Year-Round Interest to Your Garden

By Ava Green

Spring brings excitement and the hope of fresh beginnings, but also the harsh reality that our gardens can look a little…well…blah, in between seasons. Even when you have evergreens, well shaped trees, shrubs or perennials with “good bones” (strong framework or structure) a garden can look bare off season. This is when garden features and ornaments can really make a dramatic difference!

Create Year-Round Interest In Your Garden

Do you have a spot in the garden where plants struggle to grow? Or an area where you feel like your garden is missing something? 

Items like benches, patios, ornamental urns, decorative fencing, statues, a pond, gazing balls, birdhouses and birdbaths add beauty and function in every season. In Southern Ontario’s long shoulder seasons (early spring, late fall, and the longest of all - winter) these permanent elements help to make your garden look inviting all year.

Why Every Garden Benefits from a Focal Point

A garden filled with colourful annuals and perennials can be stunning, but without a focal point, it can feel visually overwhelming. A garden focal point like a bench, statement urn, a piece of statuary, or a water feature draws your attention, and creates a sense of purpose.

Focal points guide movement through the garden and help tell a story, leading visitors toward a destination. While naturalized gardens and wildflower areas don’t always require structure, for gardeners who prefer a more organized look, incorporating a focal point can create a sense of order and transform your space.

Add Contrast With Texture and Shape

Many gardeners naturally gravitate toward favourite plant forms. Tall, spiky perennials like coneflowers, salvia, and Black-eyed Susan are popular in Ontario gardens but they can feel repetitive when planted together.

Introducing contrast changes everything. A round birdbath nestled among upright perennials adds softness and contrast making it more visually interesting. In shady gardens dominated by hostas, a tall iron obelisk or trellis creates height and drama. Mixing plant textures with garden features like lighting instantly elevates beds and borders.

Express Your Personality!

Gardening is a creative process, and experimentation is part of the joy. Moving plants to find the right light or shelter often leads to surprising combinations and successes. Garden features allow you to express that creativity even further.

Statuary, ornaments, and structures, whether handcrafted or purchased, add personality and meaning. From whimsical accents to bold architectural elements, these features bring height, structure, and style to your garden in ways plants alone can’t.

More Than Just Flowers

Flowers bloom and fade with the seasons here in Southern Ontario. Garden features provide continuity, offering year-round interest, structure, and charm. With just a few additional elements, your garden can look beautiful in every season, not just when it’s in bloom.

Rabbits are some of the most common garden pests in Simcoe. We can’t blame them from loving our plants—after all, we have that in common—but the damage they leave behind can be devastating. Here’s how to keep rabbits from eating your plants.

What Does Rabbit Damage Look Like?

If you notice small ball-shaped droppings around your garden, you’ve stumbled upon a dead giveaway that rabbits have stopped by. Thanks to their tendency to gnaw and nibble, the rabbit damage you’re most likely to spot will look like chewed-up bark on small trees and shrubs, or large chunks of plants that have been munched away. Rabbits have also been known to damage other materials found around the yard—like patio furniture, garden hoses, boots, and shoes.

How to Protect Your Garden From Rabbits

Once you know your yard has become a hangout for local rabbits, you’ll want to send a clear message that you’re closed for business. These methods are easy, effective, and humane.

Preventing Rabbits from Nesting

Rabbits’ ability to hide is their primary natural defence against predators. Most yards are chock full of perfect hiding places for rabbits to make their homes and raise their babies. Thatch left on top of lawn, tall grass and weeds, and shrubs sitting low to the ground are some of the most popular rabbit habitats. 

Keep shrubs pruned to keep the first 6” of the plant clear of branches and foliage. While trimming and removing weeds and thatch, work gently at first. Rabbits hide their babies in these areas, so you’ll want to make sure you can give the mother rabbit a chance to move her warren before you go over the area with a mower or weed wacker.

Finally, take care of the man-made structures in the area. Clean up any piles of junk or overturned wheelbarrows. Finish by sealing cracks in your fencing or around your house so rabbits can’t nestle through.

Rabbit Repellent

If the rabbits in your yard are really out of control and trying the deterrent methods above aren’t working, a repellent is a very effective last resort. There are a few rabbit repellent products on the market to choose from; some emit an odour rabbits hate, some have an unpleasant flavour, some play a tone that keeps rabbits away. A combination of at least two is the most effective way to go. (Just make sure to keep any chemical products out of edible gardens, for obvious reasons.

Predators

If you want to outsource your rabbit problem, keep in mind that rabbits have a few natural predators in the Simcoe area. Try installing an owl house on your property to bring in a free rabbit patrol service. Coyotes are common rabbit predators in the area, and while you may understandably be a bit hesitant to invite them into your yard, if you have a bad rabbit problem, it’s probably a good idea to refrain from scaring them away or deterring them from your yard.

Rabbit Control Myths

You may have heard some of these ideas for controlling rabbits. Not only are they potentially dangerous, we promise you they don’t work as well as our harm-free solutions. 

Pesticides and poisons are never worth the risk. Rabbits are very good at sensing when a substance will harm them. You’re more likely to accidentally poison nearby pets. 

Scarecrows aren’t effective against rabbits at all. The only time they aren’t tacky is at Halloween! 

Flashing lights and noise makers might work while they’re in use, but what’s the point of having a garden that not even you can enjoy?

Rabbits are a nuisance in the garden, but they’re also gentle beings that don’t deserve to be controlled in inhumane ways. Fortunately, these cruelty-free tactics can help to restore harmony between your garden and the neighbourhood bunnies.