For some people, the coming of winter means putting your gardening paraphernalia away until spring. As leaves start falling down and the air grows colder, people find it better to hide out in their warm homes and just leave the garden until the spring time comes. But, what everyone has to know is that proper gardening should be done before winter comes. If you want to see a great crop for the coming season you must do something to maintain the health and beauty of the garden. Then, If you think that it is too hard and too cold to do that, think again. All you need is less than a day to prepare all that you can do for your garden. And that half a day will already contribute a lot to what you will see in spring.
Fall is a great time to prep the garden for the coming winter. At around late November or October, frost might be forecast in some areas and the temperature might drop to about forty five degrees for around more than four days in a row. When this happens, it is already time to start prepping your garden for the coming cold. Start checking your garden design and pinpoint which of your plants grew pretty well in the last season and which ones had a hard time. Fall is the best time to think of which of your plants will stay in your garden for the coming season and which ones have to go.
During this evaluation time, you can also start deciding on what new plants you will add to your garden. You can add more health and color to your garden during by planting more hardy plants since they can survive the rigors of winter. You can try plants like Anemone Japonica, Aster Novi-belgii, panicle hyandea, escarole, endive, and including Brussels sprouts. Then, you can access more information on all of these plants in gardening magazines and the local nursery in your area.
After tending to your plants, you can then start cleaning up the area. Rake up all the fallen leaves and pull out the weeds. Your garden needs to be clean to keep its health. Rotten leaves and weeds can carry diseases and insects that will harm your plants. Also, get rid of the annual plants which are already spent and harvest any of your vegetables or other plants that you know will not survive the coming winter season. You can even check for rotten tree branches after the leaves of the trees have all fallen down. This is not technically part of your garden but, by taking care of the rotten branches then you can be assured that you garden will be safe from being squished and will give the sun more room to shine on. Trim them and don't back down.
If there are younger trees in your garden then, you should try and wrap them up and add support with stakes to aid them in surviving the winter cold and wind. Mulch can also be placed on top of your garden to protect your plants from sudden temperature change and heavy snowfall. You can make use of shredded bark of about five inches, a variety of materials and pine needles. Make sure that you are not mulching too early since some insects might still be living and decide to make a shelter in it until the winter.
After doing so, you can now clean and hang your tools in the shed or garage where they will be ready until the next season comes. Before winter, prepare the slug repellent for they are one of the most despised bugs in a garden.
And lastly, this might not be directly related to your garden but, it is certainly worth mentioning. If you also have a pond or pool at your garden with fish inside, take them out and transfer them inside There is nothing more pitiful and sad than a fish frozen in it's own home. Remember, the overall beauty of your garden can also be affected by this so be sure to plant, maintain and harvest only the best.
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