Winter is just around the corner and that means dropping temperatures, harsh winds, and lots of snow! You put a lot of time and effort into your garden this spring, summer, and fall. It would be a shame to see those efforts wasted by the wrath of winter.
While everything cannot be saved, there are some simple garden maintenance steps you can follow to ensure you preserve as much of your garden as possible for the following year:
Clean Up
Go through your garden and make sure you clean up any plants that are dead or rotting. This will help remove unwanted threats such as pests and insects from using your garden as a winter home until the spring. Collect the fallen autumn leaves from your garden and surrounding area so that they do not suffocate your plants or grass.
Remove Weeds
Thoroughly go through your gardens and pull any weeds that have invaded the area. Make sure you completely remove them from the garden by disposing of them elsewhere so that they do not regrow.
Prepare Soil
Contrary to popular belief, just before the winter is an excellent time to add nutrients to your soil. Nutrients will integrate with the soil effectively over the winter and therefore leave you with healthier soil to work within the spring. By being proactive you also won’t have to deal with the inconvenience of waiting for the soil to dry out in the spring before you can work with it.
Trim Perennials
Before winter strikes, it is a good idea to trim your perennial plants and clean them up. However, make sure you do your garden maintenance research to ensure that you do not trim any perennials that you shouldn’t.
Wrap Trees
If you have any small trees with thin bark in your garden, wrap them with a paper tree wrap to avoid damage and cracking from frost.
Divide Bulbs
Look for areas where plants have become too clustered. Dig up the bulbs and separate them into smaller groupings and replant them.
Bring Plants Inside
If you have any extremely tender or fragile plants that you would hate to see not make it through the winter, pot them and bring them inside to care for over the winter.
Water
Give everything a good soak before the winter to help your plants preserve as much water as possible and avoid drying out.
Add Mulch
Mulch assists in protecting from soil erosion, water loss and eliminating weed growth. Adding extra mulch in the winter can help control the temperature of the soil and insulate against the effects of thawing and freezing cycles. Overall, this should help eliminate the damaging effects of frost on your plants.
Maintain Tools
Before putting your garden tools away for the winter, give them a good clean and sharpen so that they are in perfect shape when you go to use them to begin garden maintenance again in the spring.
Give the staff at Cedar Grounds Maintenance a call at (905) 858-8528 if you’re too busy to take care of this winter prep on your own. Winter prep is an important step to ensuring your garden is at its healthiest come spring.