As winters arrive, plants start to succumb to the nip of heavy frosts. It’s that time of the year when most people quit gardening efforts and let nature take its course. This season slows down garden activities because it’s believed that gardening is a spring and summer project. However, winter is no excuse for ignoring your garden. In fact, unless heavy snow covers your landscape, you can do plenty of things to keep your garden blooming.
Your garden needs love and maintenance no matter the season. Since plants need soil, water, and sunshine to survive and thrive, maintaining your garden during winters can be challenging. But this doesn’t mean to leave your garden unattended during winter months. Winter garden maintenance is all about understanding your plants. Different plants have different kinds of adaptation to cold temperatures. But typically, winter gardening means minimal disturbance to plants as they are hibernating. During the colder months, their demand for water and fertilizers reduces. During early winter, simply removing dead parts and covering the soil with a blanket of mulch is sufficient.
Depending on what’s growing in your garden, make sure to continue your gardening efforts. With this in mind, here are some tips to prepare your garden for the winter season.
Mulching
There are multiple benefits of mulching. Firstly, mulching in winter will prevent weeds from growing in your garden. Secondly, it helps to keep the soil warm and moist. So, remove weeds from the soil and cover it up with some organic mulch like shredded leaves and bark. This will help in keeping the top-soil warm and protect the plant roots from frost damage. Winter, as you know, is a dry season than spring and summer. If you leave the soil bare, it will quickly lose water. To prevent this, you need mulching but avoid putting the mulch too close to the stem as it may rot the stem.
Grow Winter-Friendly Plants
When it comes to growing winter-friendly plants, you have a ton of options. Look for the plants and vegetables that are frost-tolerant plants and can survive in cold weather. You may consider planting veggies like lettuce, peas, broccoli, spinach, and onions. Also, when you visit the nursery, you’ll find plants that flower in winter. Growing winter plants can add color to your garden. You can also think of growing indoor herbs in pots like oregano and garlic. But make sure to start early so that your garden is winter-ready.
Relocate Plants
The plants in the pot can be placed in a warm, safer place. The plants which are sensitive to cold can be placed indoors during the winters. As winters arrive, relocate plants into the shade to avoid shedding. The tropical plants thrive in humidity, so take them indoors after the autumn season. Also, when the temperature drops, the plants in the garden can be covered with a protective piece of cloth or plastic. However, it’s important to take off the covering during the day or warmer periods to avoid overheating. If your region receives heavy rainfall during winters, relocating plants can help in avoiding over-watering that may cause root-rot.