How To Prepare Your Garden For Winter
Preparing Your Garden For Winter
As the days get shorter and the temperature drops it’s time to start thinking about winterising your garden. Properly winterising your garden will protect your plants, prevent damage from frost and give your garden a healthy start to next season. In this guide, ‘How to Prepare Your Garden For Winter’ we will walk you through the steps to winterise your garden from cleaning up your beds to protecting your plants from frost.
1. Clean Up Your Beds
The first step in winterising your garden is to clean up your beds. Remove any dead or dying plants, weeds and debris from your garden beds. This will stop pests and diseases from overwintering in your garden and improve air circulation around your plants. Also, remove any fallen leaves from your garden beds as they can harbour pests and diseases too.
2. Mulch Your Beds
After cleaning up your beds add a layer of mulch to protect your plants from frost. Mulch acts as an insulator and helps to regulate soil temperature and prevent frost heaving. Organic mulches like straw, leaves or wood chips are best for winterising your garden beds. Apply 2-3 inches of mulch around your plants, don’t pile it up against the stems of your plants.
3. Protect Your Plants
For non-hardy plants consider giving them extra protection from frost. You can use frost cloth, row covers or even old blankets to cover your plants on nights when the temperature is expected to drop below freezing. Remove the covers during the day to let the sun reach your plants.
4. Prune Your Plants
Late fall is a good time to prune your trees and shrubs to remove dead or diseased branches and promote healthy growth in spring. Also, prune back any perennials that have died back for the season. Don’t prune any plants that are still growing as this will stimulate new growth that may be damaged by frost.
5. Prepare Your Tools
Before winter hits take some time to clean and sharpen your tools. This will prevent rust and have them ready to use when the gardening season starts again in spring. Also, drain and store your hoses and irrigation systems to prevent freezing and damage over winter.
By following these steps to winterise your garden you can protect your plants and give your garden a healthy start to the next season. Remember to check the weather forecast and be prepared to give your plants extra protection on nights when the temperature is expected to drop below freezing. With a little bit of prep and care your garden will survive winter and thrive in spring.
