A Note from the Gardens
December 17, 2025
By Rick Bogusch
Though short days and cold temperatures have brought the gardening season to a close, there’s still much to do outdoors. It’s a great time to edge and mulch, weed and prune and plan and start new projects for next year. It’s also time to winterize roses once the ground freezes a bit and they drop most of their leaves.
Working outdoors doing garden maintenance this time of year is a great workout and a great way to keep warm when braving the cold. On one of those sunny, windless days, it won’t be long before you start peeling off layers of clothes.
Shades of brown and gray accented with colorful fruits abound in December. Twigs and berries look especially good when paired with evergreens as a companion plant or in the background. Evergreens like hollies and white pine brighten winter gardens and landscapes and give them structure. We’ll be featuring the evergreens of Bridge Gardens on our Winter Walk on January 17th.
Light is precious this time of year. It warms body and spirit, so it’s good to be outdoors and absorb as much as possible. Bridge Gardens is a great place to soak up the light and enjoy the beauty of those buttery, low-angled rays of the winter sun. We’re open year-round, weather-permitting, so I hope to see soon.
Happy Holidays!
Rick Bogusch
Garden Director, Bridge Gardens
rbogusch@peconiclandtrust.org