Summer is over, but your garden still needs some tender loving care. Take these late season tasks to keep it healthy and beautiful for the winter months ahead!
By taking good care of what’s left in this last stretch before fall arrives; we can ensure that our plants are happy so they stay robust during cold dark days when there isn’t much else going on besides frosting.
So, let’s have a look at these important steps you should take in order to prepare your garden for the winter months.
1.Mulch Root Vegetables
Root vegetables are some of the most versatile and nutritious foods in our pantry. They can be harvested from cold soil, even after a few frosts or snow storms! Most root crops actually taste better when grown at low temperatures close to freezing–and many people have found success leaving their potatoes on site over winter that way.
Digging for root crops can be difficult, and you want to make sure that the vegetables are protected against hard frosts. One way of doing this is by covering your vegetable beds with 6-inch layer of dry mulch – which provides good insulation! Cardboard boxes or fern fronds work well as they’re easily movable when needed (to access veggies).
In regions where the ground freezes, dig up root vegetables and store them in a cool dark location before they go bad.
2. Cover and Protect Tender Plants
Cold winter days can make your garden feel like a prison with all the plants in their leaf-bare glory. But, there’s no reason why those beautiful flowers and herbs need to be left exposed! You’ll want to protect them from any frost damage during these months by using anything that provides lightweight insulation such as blankets or burlap.
If you’re looking for something more durable then evergreen boughs might work well on their own too – just make sure not touch any part of it without gloves since oils will stain skin.
To keep your plants’ crowns safe from harm, use a mulch that is both water and rot-resistant. Pile the shredded bark of trees or boughs with evergreen fern fronds on top as an effective protective measure for tender plant stems up to about 18 inches tall in length; if there’s not enough material available then sawdust works just as well!
3. Split Perennials
After you’ve finished blooming your plants, it’s time for them to go into dormancy. You’ll want to clean up any broken or dead stems and cut back on the top growth as needed- this will depend on what type of plant they are but generally speaking 1/4th -1/3rd should be removed depending upon stem length.
After removing all their spent flowers from the ground make sure that each individual is divided in quarters, thirds, or halves if possible.
4. Garden Cleanup
A general cleanup helps to organize your garden, keep plants healthy and restore soil by removing a variety of pests including potentially harmful bacteria fungi or larvae that like overwintering in detritus left behind after dead vegetation.
What you should do:
- Clean and discard away annual crops.
- Eliminate unwanted leaves or plants waste from beds.
- Clean outdoor pots of their dirt and put upturned.
- When it’s warm outside, eliminate stagnant water from garden hoses, and wrap up hoses and store.
- Drain your irrigation system if needed.
- To avoid dark areas on the yard, sweep leaves before winter sets in.
5. Lift Cold Tender Bulbs
Tender summer and fall flowering bulbs like dahlias, cannas, Amaryllis, Gladiolus, etc. add terrific color to the garden. However these will need to be lifted from their pots so that they can survive freezing temperatures.
In preparation for winter, it is important to remove dead foliage and carefully lift bulbs so that they do not become damaged. To avoid damaging your plants the best way possible in this situation would be by using a garden fork all around their drip line (the outer edge of growth), with gentle prying pressure applied upwards. Make sure to shake off excess soil as you go along until free-standing leaves are visible on individual stalks or branches.
Before storing your bulbs, check for any signs of damage like shriveled or soft skin. If there’s anything wrong with them remove that bulb from the pot. Place the healthy bulbs in an open container lined with loose material such as crumpled newspaper, peat moss sawdust vermiculite to protect them.
6. Plant Cover Crops
Cover crops are a valuable tool for soil rejuvenation. They provide important nutrients and fix atmospheric nitrogen that would otherwise make weeds grow faster than plants in your garden!
After your harvest is finished, remove dead and spent plants. Till the soil lightly to loosen up top 6 inches of ground then sow some seeds for next season’s garden! For the indoor vegetable patch, choose fast-growing crops that will spread around quickly choking out weeds, and can be easily tilled.
7. Plant Spring Bulbs and Fall Garlic
In order to prevent bulbs from dying during winter, it is best that you plant your spring bulbs and fall garlic plants before the ground has iced over. This includes all kinds of bluebells, daffodils, fritillaria, Grecian windflowers, hyacinthe , tulips snowdrops, etc.
In areas where temperatures don’t fall below freezing, bulbs should be planted by early November to allow roots enough time for growth before winter sets in.
The rule of thumb for bulbs is to plant at a depth 3 times their height. So, a 2-inch bulb gets planted 6 inches deep and will blossom beautifully!
8. Prepare Beds for Winter and make your life easier in Spring
To prepare your flower and vegetable beds for winter, it’s important to remove all dead plant material including rotted fruit or vegetables.
If you want to keep Japanese beetles out of your garden, make sure the soil is lightly-tilled and loose. Add some well rotted compost or manure into a 2″ layer on top. Add more nutrients if needed.
After the ground is frozen, add a top dressing of mulch to clumps of herbs and perennials.
9. Prune and Mulch Berry Patches
Strawberry plants are easily damaged by hard frosts, cold spells and have shallow roots. Mulching is a great way to keep your plants healthy and happy. It can be applied before the first heavy frost or even just after their seeds have sprouted, so long as you’re careful about when it’s time for mowing!
Protecting raspberries and blackberries against the cold depends on what type of cane you’re growing. Both have perennial roots, but only live for two years in total; one year during their primocane phase (first-year growth) and another as floricanes (second-year-growth).
For raspberries, floricanes blossom and yield summertime berries on two-year-old canes. You need to trim these into the ground after harvest. The remaining 1-year-old canes should be trimmed back to 3 feet. The perfect time to do this is in autumn when you can still notice the difference between the two.
Once you cut the one-year-old canes, you need to keep them safe. Protect your canes from freezing temperatures and drying winds by mounding soil or mulch on top. You should remove all of the stored material in late spring when danger has passed, but for now just keep it covered until then!
Blackberries also come in two different growth forms, one being erect and the other is trailing. Erect plants are hardier as well as more tolerant of the winter weather than the trailing ones.
10. Maintain the Compost Pile
To keep your compost active and healthy during the winter months, you should make sure that the temperature remains above freezing.
To maintain an active compost pile through winter, turn it one last time before hard frosts arrive. Then add layers of insulation such as cardboard or evergreen boughs for additional protection against freezing core temperatures.
Here’s a tip for those with cold winters: Harvest the mature compost from your garden in fall and use it as nutrient-rich mulch. You can also add kitchen scraps over winter to help them freeze until spring, when you’ll be able to resume adding layers again!
In milder regions, moisture control is more important than insulation. Cold soaking rain can waterlog compost and wash away nutrients as well crucial microbes needed for nutrient absorption in plants’ roots!
11. Take Care of Your Tools
Now is the time to clean and sharpen your garden tools before they rust during winter. Use a stiff wire brush, rub away any rust spots with sandpaper, then oil metal parts for protection from further corrosion (this will also help prevent cracks).
It’s important that you follow these steps regularly so as not let them get too dirty or lose their effectiveness.