15 Tips To Get Your Garden Winter Ready

Garden Winter Ready
2021-11-05
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How do you get your garden ready for the winters? From covering garden soil to safeguarding trees and shrubs, here are 15 strategies for winterizing your garden beds.

1) Mow Your Lawn

Mow the grass, the most basic of all tasks to begin with. Experts recommend that the final cut be at the minimum height recommended for the kind of grass. The last mowing will remove any trash and lessen the likelihood of fungal problems in the spring.

2) Fertilize

Don't forget to fertilize your lawn in the fall. To assist the roots withstand the intense winter frost, use a mix with less nitrogen and more potassium.

3) Remove Leaves

Remove leaves from your grass to prevent smothering. Mulching is a more convenient method, but you can't leave it until the last minute or the mulch will become too thick.

4) Harvesting and Storing

Tender veggies are sensitive to frost and should be harvested before it arrives. Tomatoes, zucchini, peas, beans, winter squash, and pumpkins are all examples. Remove these plants as well as any agricultural trash. If any plants are infected, either burn them or throw them away. Infected plants should not be left on the property or disposed of in a compost pile.

Hardy veggies can withstand heavy frosts and can be left in the ground. After a mild frost, they generally taste better.

Semi-hardy veggies can withstand mild frosts (normally 29° to 32°F). Many of these more delicate crops benefit greatly from some form of protection, such as a cold-frame or floating row cover, or they may simply be picked before serious frosts arrive.

Make certain that any veggies you harvest are properly cured and preserved. Of course, many crops may be preserved by preserving and pickling. Herbs can also be dried or frozen in a number of methods.

5) Compost

After the harvest, make sure to remove all of your seasonal plants from the ground and place them in your compost bin.

6) Getting Herbs Ready for Winters

When it comes to winter protection, herbs are a mixed bag. Some are highly tough and can easily survive a cold season, while others will require some assistance.

7) Cover Up the Garden Beds

Even though most of us use compost in the spring, it is best to use it in late October to enable the soil to absorb the nutrients during the winter.

Before the ground freezes, spread a couple of inches of compost or manure on top of your beds. Then, to avoid soil erosion, nutrient leaching, and weed growth, apply a small layer of straw or mulch.

Sowing cover crops, such as winter rye, is another alternative for improving your soil. Learn more about boosting the health of your soil by reading our article on Cover Crops.

8) Get Your Berry Patches Ready

Berries are typically hardy, but they may require some fall trimming and care

9) Winterize Perennial Plants

Water your perennial flowers and blooming bushes in the fall; they'll thank you later.

Many perennials, especially ones with many seedheads like coneflowers or rudbeckia, may be left to grow without being pruned in the spring since the birds will eat their seeds throughout winter.

If you want to install a new flower bed next spring, cover it with mulch or thick plastic now to limit any weed growth when the earth heats up in the spring.

10) Prepare Your Roses for Winter

You can water roses frequently throughout the autumn, but you should stop fertilizing them 6 weeks before the average date of your first fall frost.

Pull down the long canes of climbing and tea roses, lay them flat on the ground, and cover them with pine branches before daily temperatures dip significantly below freezing.

11) Let the Shrubs Be Winter Ready

If you have early snows in your location, shelter tiny trees and deciduous shrubs with a wooden framework. Alternatively, encircle them with a cylinder of chicken wire fencing and fill in the gaps with straw or crushed leaves.

12) Wrap the Younger Trees

Trees do not require extensive winter preparation, but younger trees should be wrapped or screened to protect them from the weather and vermin.

13) Stop the Watering System

Turn off your water if you haven't already! When it frosts, you don't want the hose or irrigation attached since it might cause harm.

14) Help Those Who Are Your Garden Allies

Keep bird feeders stocked. During the colder months, birds prefer fatty, high-energy diets (such as suet). To maintain proper hygiene, establish a feeding regimen, provide water, and clean feeders and bird baths on a regular basis.

15) Basic Maintenance

To protect your outside pots from breaking over the winter, empty them entirely. Store them backwards.

Use a bucket hung from a hook in your tool shed or garage to store hose nozzles and sprinkler accessories.

HML Construction, a landscaping service company in Edmonton and St. Albert that offers great winter lawn care solutions, is available. Connect at the earliest!

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