Now is the time to prepare your garden for winter. Here’s what you need to know
Make sure your garden is ready for winter [OD file photo]
Rosanne Loparco (Utica Observer Dispatch)
Topic suggested by: Mr Proton
We enjoyed our gardens all summer, but it’s time to prepare them for winter.
Here are some chores to do now to help you next year.
Vegetable gardens. 🥕Finish harvesting tender crops before the first hard frost.
Crops such as some leafy vegetables and kale can continue to grow; they actually appreciate the cooler temperatures.
Herbs such as sage, thyme and oregano are hardy perennials that will survive being in the ground over winter. However, if you want rosemary or basil, you need to dig plants out and put them up to bring indoors.
Remove any dropped fruit and garden debris. 🚜 Till the soil, add compost or leaves, and cover with straw until you’re ready to plant again in the spring.
Plant protection. In your ornamental garden, you can add compost or mulch before the ground freezes.
Use your leaves; they provide nutrients to the soil as they break down over the winter.
You can use the leaves chopped or whole and add them around your existing plants.
Watering. Keep watering perennials, trees, and shrubs. This is especially important for plants such as evergreens to prevent winter burn.
Avoid any pruning before winter arrives.
Don’t forget your lawn. Grass will grow until the first hard frost; continue to mow to 2-1/2 to 3 inches high.
You can cut back perennials once foliage has died and the ground is frozen.🥀
However, consider delaying your ornamental garden clean-up until the spring. Birds will be looking for food over the winter and they will enjoy perennial flower seed heads.
🦋 Beneficial insects will also enjoy the habitat left in the dead plant debris to lay eggs and survive the winter.
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