Treasures of the Cold – Are Winter Walks Relevant to Finland?

Increasing awareness of nature’s conducive effects on well-being and an impetus to visit healthy environments throughout the year has helped fuel winter interest in the gardening world. Simultaneously, there has been a realisation that parks and gardens actually have much to offer ‘out of season’. Although not exclusive to the United Kingdom, winter walks have experienced great popularity there, acting as springboards to educate and promote this theme not only for public but also private gardens. 

Interest in winter ecology has also burgeoned. Figure 1 shows the number of publications about this per year, Helsinki University commenting that this rise could be due to awareness of issues related to climate change.

A survey about the use of evergreen garden plants in Finland claims greater attention should be paid to vegetation for this season. Increasing snowless winters due to climate change will increase the need to green and revitalise grey, bleak landscapes (Vallinkivi, 2022, p. 46). Alongside this have come new aesthetic approaches whereby dying plants are seen as having their own structural appeal. Information has been published about herbaceous species with architectural form and evergreen perennial groundcovers (Mutanen, 2023). Similarly, decorative grasses which keep their form in winter have been recognised and documented (Orrainen, 2015). Some, such as Calamagrostis, already feature in Finnish planting designs.

Traditional and contemporary

British winter gardens embrace these new elements without abandoning the old.  Skeletons of deciduous trees, hedges and other clipped shapes, such as Fagus sylvatica columns, still form important structures. The millenia-old artform of topiary serves as frames or backdrops to highlight other plants. At times it works as a stand-alone feature, with Taxus cut into amusing or abstract shapes. Niwaki, on the other hand, brings the Japanese influence of cloud-pruning to evergreen species.

Garden design is subject to trends and Britain is undergoing a resurgence of interest in conifers, their variation in height, form, colour and texture providing accent plants. Stunningly-grouped Cornus and Salix stems bring vibrance – even after heavy snowfalls. In some gardens this is magnified by watery reflections. The role of light is maximised as it filters through multi-stemmed trees and highlights exfoliating barks of different hues, making orientation an important aspect of design. Wherever hoarfrost appears, structural plants are enhanced and snow brings its own glistening quality. In spite of the seemingly restricted plant range for winter, these elements and their skilful juxtaposition has resulted in considerable success.

Site-specific designs

Whether for reasons of aesthetics or microclimate, awareness of locality has enabled designers to come up with unique layouts. Bodnant’s Winter Garden in Wales is set in the area of a former rockery in a historical setting and the undulating topology is used to advantage. By contrast, Hyde Hall’s winter walk has been created on the eastern side of England, in an exposed and comparatively flat expanse. Landmasses from a recent construction project in this Royal Horticultural Society area have been utilised to create low banks for plantings, giving shelter from damaging, easterly winds. A choice was made not to follow tradition by sealing off the winter garden with high evergreen hedges so that this walk would remain sympathetic and open to its surrounding landscape.

Application within Finland

Ideas that have been applied to this wide range of contexts could also be adapted to parts of southern Finland. Initially, this would be for sheltered microclimates within woody hardiness zones one and two because of minimal lows in temperature and also due to latitude, which affects photoperioding. The majority of the population in these zones live near the sea and the maritime climate is more comparable with that of places already described. There is also likely to be less frost and more light in urban areas.

Parks, gardens and arboreta in these regions show that some of the species in British winter gardens already thrive here. In addition to Betula and Cornus species and cultivars, Finland has a wide variety of conifers with different hues and habits, from glaucous to aurea and fastigiata to pendula. The same is true of trees with beautiful bark, like Prunus Maackii, evergreen perennials, decorative grasses with stronger structure and bulbs like snowdrops. Where winter-hardiness is less certain, taxa could be tested in favourable microclimates, bearing in mind that winters in the future are predicted to be milder and snowfall scantier (Finnish Meterological Institute, 2017). The study of phenology is valuable in this regard, showing that leaf bud and flowering occur significantly earlier in Finland nowadays compared to a century ago (Linkosalo et al., 2009, pp. 453–458).

The demands of upkeep

Clearly winter maintenance is a challenge whenever heavy snowfall occurs as branches may be weighed down and snap. Paths need to be kept accessible and slip-free. Certain species require protection from pests and young evergreens from desiccation in early spring sunshine. Rash enthusiasm over introducing new taxa, because of opportunities that climate change might offer, needs to be tempered by other considerations such as plant stress due to snowless winters. Though temperatures become milder the triggers of photoperiod remain constant, meaning that various features of winter walks would still peak later in the year than in Britain.

Overall advantages

However, the potential for public benefit is manifold, not only from health but from an educational point of view. In recent years a trail was organised in Viikki Arboretum, with information for the public about a number of seasonal topics such as Raunkiær’s life-form system, evergreen perennials, winter dendrology and how snow protects plants. Further education for different age groups is also provided on Helsinki University’s website. Books about identifying woody plants as well as perennials in winter have now been published for Finnish readers. The environmental benefits of winter gardens are also apparent. Trees, hedges and the perennials left standing till spring provide shelter for overwintering; floriferous and berry-bearing plants feed pollinators and other wildlife. The number of different botanical families ensures biodiversity as table 1 shows.

Table 1. Botanical Families and Genera for Winter Gardens (Sarikoski, 2024).

Family	Genus
Aceraceae	Acer
Amaryllidaceae	Galanthus
Anacardiaceae	Rhus
Asparagaceae	Ophiopogon
Bambusoideae	Bamboo
Berberidaceae	Mahonia
Betulaceae	Betula
Buxaceae	Pachysandra
Caprifoliaceae	Lonicera
Cornaceae	Cornus
Cupressaceae	Cupressus, Juniperus, Thuja
Cyperaceae	Carex
Ericaceae	Calluna, Erica, Rhododendron
Hamamelidaceae	Hamamelis
Malvaceae	Tili
Pinaceae	Picea, Pinus
Poaceae	Calamagrostis, Miscanthus
Ranunculaceae	Helleborus
Rosaceae	Prunus, Rubus
Saliceae	Salix
Saxifragaceae	Bergenia, Heuchera
Taxaceae	Taxus
Thymelaeaceae	Daphne

The future of winter tourism in southern Finland looks bleak due to the decreasing amounts of snow and alternatives to make these areas appealing for the cold, dark time of year should be found (climateguide, n.d.). Admittedly, such gardens or walks would need to be timed more for the ‘spring-winter’ season. Nonetheless, they would shorten the period where public gardens are out-of-bounds – whether mentally or literally. At a time when it is necessary to address the situation of an ageing population such places would provide pleasant outdoor experiences for those undertaking gentler exercise. Importantly, younger age groups could also be encouraged into the fresh air with activities to engage them with nature during the long, colder season.

Investment in the creation of winter walks and gardens may indeed bring elements of risk with plant loss. However, in addition to new lessons learned in botany, the gains would be multiple, improving the quality of life and enhancing many areas of southern Finland.