Lydia Elise Millen, a British influencer who has an eye for all things charming and elegant, shares glimpses of her pretty English country garden on her Instagram, which has a whopping 1.6 million followers. It often features lush evergreens, structured boxwood, and soft winter accents that feel timeless and alive in cold months.
Inspired by her style, here’s how you can transform your garden as autumn fades into winter, and still maintain the fresh aesthetic that Lydia embodies.
1. Swap Out Summer Annuals for Hardy Winter Blooms
One of the first things Lydia often does when preparing her garden for winter is removing fading summer annuals and replacing them with plants that truly thrive in frost. Winter pansies and violas are hardy, cheerful, and come in a variety of colors. These perennially popular blooms can give your borders or containers a gentle pop of color, which is so needed when the temperature drops.
Another great standout is winter heath. It’s a compact shrub that blooms late in the year with bell-like flowers, adding a delicate pink, purple, or white hue to an otherwise brown and green, dead garden. Meanwhile, Christmas or Lenten roses bring long-lasting, sophisticated blooms in winter and early spring.
These live pansy plants from Walmart are perfect for giving your garden a bit of color. You can also get these Lenten Rose seeds from Walmart, which add a more subtle, but still showy, color.
2. Bring Structure with Evergreens
Lydia’s garden always has a strong, evergreen structure, giving the feeling of grounding. Adding evergreens now will give the space some definition throughout the winter. Shrubs like boxwood have glossy leaves that will brighten up dreary borders.
3. Add Container Plants for Cozy Corners
Lydia often uses pots and urns in her garden to create focal points and layers. In winter, you can fill these containers with hardy plants that hold up through the frost and keep seating areas inviting. Some great choices are cyclamen coum, a highly tasteful winter-flowering perennial, and winter daphne, a strongly scented pink flower.
When potting your plants, use a well-draining compost and choose frost-resistant containers to protect roots. It’s also recommended to add a top layer of mulch, like shredded leaves, to insulate the soil and retain moisture.
Here are some beautiful container ideas to get your inspiration flowing:
4. Protect and Mulch for Winter Health
Before the frost really settles, take a cue from Lydia Millen and do some garden maintenance: prune back dead stems from perennials, but leave some winter silhouettes for structure. Then apply a generous layer of mulch. Leaves or wood chips work perfectly to protect roots from freezing.
Make sure your mulch is natural and breathable. Covering plant roots helps to insulate them and preserves moisture, which is exactly what Lydia might do to prepare her garden paths and beds for the winter months ahead.
This Timberline Premium All-Natural Cedar Mulch from Lowe’s is perfect, as it retains water, and it looks neat and tidy.
5. Design with Layers and Texture
Lydia Millen’s garden is never flat or dull; it’s always layered with evergreen shrubs and flowering plants rotated in seasonal container pieces. She uses shape and colors to create depth. To emulate this:
- Pair tall evergreen shrubs (like Japanese holly) with lower-growing winter bloomers (pansies or cyclamen).
- Use pots of heather or winter pansies alongside evergreen hedges to soften hard edges.
- Add garden ornaments or simple trellises that highlight the winter branches and offer vertical interest.
By creating a blend of hardy winter blooms, evergreen structure, and thoughtful container arrangements, all inspired by Lydia Elise Millen’s English country-garden style, you can help your garden gracefully transition from fall to winter.
