During this festive month, gather winter vegetation for your holiday spreads, let your fall plants grow and transplant any woody shrubs and trees.
by Addie Ladner

“This time of year, my garden looks wild and furry,” says North Carolina State University architecture professor Sarah Glee Queen. A longtime gardener, Queen keeps chickens and maintains a perennial bed and year-round vegetable garden within her Mordecai landscape. For her, December is the time to take advantage of fewer things to do in her yard and make the most of the plants that are still vibrant. Here are her tips. 

Go Wild

It can be tempting to give everything a good hack before winter, Queen says, but she encourages us to let plants die on their own and get a little unruly. “Our bird and insect friends will appreciate it for shelter and food,” she says. She especially loves to see her grasses, like sea oats and dark purple sugar cane, this time of year: “They add a lovely texture and color.”

Transplant

Now that you have some time off in the garden, Queen encourages transplanting any of your fall perennials that might have outgrown their space. “I move a lot of spider lilies and society garlic,” she says. Certain trees and shrubs, like Dogwood, Sweet Olive, Japanese maple and Plum pine, also prefer to be moved when they’ve gone dormant.

Gather Natural Beauty

Winter offers plenty to fill the home with natural beauty, adorn your holiday table or bring as a host gift during the holidays. Holly and magnolia branches are popular in December, but Queen gravitates toward lesser-known plants with interesting color and texture. “I love Hearts-a-bustin, a native shrub with a beautiful pod that opens up with bright red berries,” Queen says. “I also like to let my okra go to seed and dry out —it looks great in arrangements.” If you’re craving color, look for winter-blooming camellias for a pop of red or pink. 

This article originally appeared in the December 2024 issue of WALTER magazine.