6 Ways To Prep Your Garden For Winter
If you are tired of the gardening season, then it is time to put the garden to rest for the year. As the temperature drops, it’s important to get your garden ready for the winter, as this will save you time and energy come spring.
Here are a few things you can do to take care and prepare for next spring!
Clean Sprinklers and Hoses – Drain your garden hose, get all the water out of the pipes and sprinklers. Once the water is drained, stow them for winter. Before storing do take some time to inspect and make repairs where needed.Winterizing your sprinkler system before the freeze is much less expensive than repairing the damage come springtime.
Cut Away Plants at Ground Level – Cut plants off flush with soil level, so that the roots can decompose in the soil and this process also ensure that no soil is removed from the gardens. When you rip your plants out of the ground, roots and all. you’ll be robbing your soil microbes of a good meal and degrading your long-term soil fertility.
Cover up the garden beds – When you are ready to put your garden bed to bed for the winter, cover them with a tarp or plastic to help kill the weed and weed seeds. So, that there will be less weeding next garden season.
Compost Leaves – Compost helps to add a slow release of nutrients to your soil, improve soil structure, to balance your soil’s pH, and to increasing water retention. For a good compost, you will need twice the volume of browns to greens. This formula I learned from a very old gardener who used to come twice year to plant trees at my mother-in-law’s house. Kitchen waste, which is very nitrogen-heavy in composting lingo is categorized as “greens.” and the fallen leaves as “browns”.
Save Seeds For Next Year – Air-dried seeds store pretty well in jars or envelopes that are kept in dry, cool conditions. Seeds can be collected and saved from trees, shrubs, perennials, vegetables, herbs etc, at different times in the year.
Prune Your Trees and Hedges – Any time you prune, make proper cuts so you won’t damage your plant. As a guideline, prune no more than one-fourth of the tree’s total leaf area in a single year. Hedges may be pruned twice a year
Fertilize Your Lawn – A cloudy day or in the evening is the best time to fertilize a lawn. A day or two before applying fertilizer, water your lawn thoroughly. After grass dries, apply fertilizer. Use a spreader designed specifically for this purpose and apply only the required amount.
Now would also be a great time to make a note of the seedlings that grew, the annuals you loved and the vegetables you got this year in this FREE printable garden journal.
Wherever you live, there are always steps you can take to prepare the garden for next year’s gardening season.