You’ve scheduled your sprinkler system blowout and are all ready for the cold temperatures to hit in earnest. But what do you do with your landscaping that’s not actively growing? Do you let your yard slide into a winter slumber without doing anything to spruce it up? Or should you find fun ways to add color and pizzazz to your yard until the temperatures go back up? Your trusted Denver sprinkler repair experts believe that winter is the perfect way to play with your landscaping and add color to your home. Here are a few simple ideas that will make your yard stand out even during the off-season.

Play with Your Landscape Lighting
Even during the winter months, you can use your landscape lighting to highlight certain features of your yard. Use this to your advantage. Keep the lights on and show off the silhouettes of your trees or shrubs. Change out the light bulbs for different color options and add flair to your yard as the seasons change. You can even reposition some of the lights to call attention to different features like seasonal decorations. Whatever you do, just make sure to use high-quality LED bulbs. This way, you’ll still be able to enjoy your lights without having to pay high energy costs each month.

Repurpose Holiday Lights
Holiday lights are ideal for making your home feel more festive, but that doesn’t mean you have to take them down as soon as the holidays are over. Instead, repurpose them and hang them elsewhere in your yard. Use clear lights to add warmth to patios or porches and hang colorful lights in the backyard to create an air of whimsy that you and your family can enjoy at night. Instead of leaving the lights on the trees’ canopies, consider wrapping the strands around the trunk. This highlights your trees without making it feel like you’re leaving holiday lights up past the season.

Add Color with Evergreens
Your trees may be leafless and bare during the winter, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add color to your yard. Instead of relying on fake flowers that look both tacky and cheap, opt for evergreens. Young evergreens are great potted plants that, with the right care, can stay small for years without outgrowing their pots. Arrange these in your yard, on your porch, or along your walkway to add life to your winter landscape. If you want to make a more permanent addition to your yard, transfer the evergreens in the spring and let them grow to their full height.

Hang Bird Feeders
Most of the birds may leave the Denver metro area during the winter, but some species like to stick around even into the colder months. Draw them to your yard by hanging bird feeders around your property. This will make your yard look alive even when it’s covered in snow. Just remember to hang the bird feeders away from your house. Use the trees or decorative stakes to hold them out in the open. This way, you won’t have to worry about insects or pests getting too close to your home or worse, slipping inside when you least expect it.

Show Your Mailbox Some Love
You may not think much about your mailbox, but it’s one of the most visible things in your front yard. When it looks run down, it only makes your winter landscaping look more barren. Instead of leaving your mailbox in place, give it a facelift. Give it a coat of fresh paint to protect it from rust and make it look like-new. 

If you’re not sure what color to use, look at your house and try to match the paint to the colors of your home’s exterior. For example, if you have gray siding and white trim, a fresh coat of white paint will make the mailbox seem like an intentional yard decoration. 

Spread Fresh Mulch
Spreading mulch is a great way to insulate your plants and your garden beds against the cold temperatures. But it also adds a touch of color to your yard. Use enough to completely cover the exposed soil around the base of your trees and your flower beds and leave it in place once the weather warms up. As the mulch breaks down, it will distribute nutrients into the soil. This will help your plants thrive during the growing season and increases the health of your soil without the use of chemical fertilizers.

Keep Your Driveway Clear
When the snow falls, it’s beautiful to look at. But once traffic kicks up road grime onto the white stuff, it quickly loses its appeal. Though you can’t control the amount of grime that kicks up onto the part of your yard by the street, you can help the rest of your front yard look pristine until the snow melts. The easiest way to do it is to keep your driveway clear and free of ice and snow. Shovel it thoroughly after the storm and move the snow before it has a chance to get dirty. Once your driveway is clear, the debris and dirt clinging to your car will fall to the pavement instead of staining the snow. The result will be a cleaner looking yard and pristine landscaping until the snow melts.

Make a Plan for Spring
Though you shouldn’t try to add new plants to your yard during the winter, you can create a winter landscaping strategy for the following year. Make a plan to plant winter-friendly plants in your yard. Shrubs like holly and trees like the red twig dogwood provide color even when the world is blanketed in snow. And if you plant them early enough, their roots will have a chance to grow and get established before the growing season ends. 

Give Your Winter Landscaping a Helping Hand
Protecting your landscaping during the winter months doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun with it. Use your imagination and add color where you see fit. And if you haven’t already, schedule a sprinkler system blowout to protect your lawn and your water bill.