What to Do This Winter in Your Garden
Outdoor Living Expert P. Allen Smith provides a checklist for winter work
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Late Fall and Early Winter
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Now is the time to begin mulching
perennials, shrubs and trees. In warmer climates, do this at the end of
the season. Further north, wait until the plants have become dormant or
the top one inch of soil freezes. In very cold climates, adding an
additional layer of mulch after the ground freezes prevents frost heaving during
milder winter temperatures. You will want to keep the mulch at least six inches
away from the trunks of trees to prevent critters from nesting and chewing
on the woody stems and trunks.
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Move containers of plants that
are not hardy to protected spaces where they will not freeze. A garage
will generally keep plants cool enough to keep them dormant but not allow
the soil to freeze.
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Making leaf mold or compost is
relatively easy by blowing leaves and shredding them, or mowing them to
shreds, and piling them up for the winter. STIHL makes this task easy with shredder vacs
that also convert into blowers. Once your leaf pile is ready, moisten
them if necessary and cover the pile with a tarp. This helps keep the pile
warm and moist to help it break down faster. You are making pure gold for
your garden!
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In areas where deer and rodents
are a problem, prevent them from chewing on the trunks of young trees by
wrapping the trunks with hardware cloth
.
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Double check any houseplants that
were brought in for winter, too, make sure that invading pests such as
aphids or mealy bugs are not becoming a problem. If you find them, treat
the plants before the pests have a chance to move to other plants causing
an even bigger problem.
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You will want to be sure to
monitor the precipitation, including snow and ice, in your area and water,
if necessary, to prevent winter drought. If you need to water, make sure
the temperatures are above 40 degrees and that it’s early enough, around
the middle of the day, so that the water will be able to soak in before
freezing night temperatures.
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In Southern areas, the dormant
season is a great time to plant trees, shrubs, and perennials, so they can
root in over the winter and be ready to grow in the spring. A planting auger
from STIHL is ideal for mass flower plantings or deep root
fertilization. When you install bulbs, make sure to plant them when the
temperatures are cool enough to prevent any top growth but so they still
have several weeks of cold to produce blooms for spring.
Winter
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This is the best time to clean up
and winterize all your hand and motorized tools and equipment. STIHL has a
great “how-to” section of their website that explains how to
properly prepare and store 2-cycle outdoor power equipment. Their
step-by-step instruction is really recommended any time you will not be
using the tools for 30 days or more.
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When it’s too cold to go outside,
think about building insulated cold frames to be able to start flowers and
vegetables earlier in the spring and extend your harvests later in the
fall. In a zone 7 garden for example, frost blankets work very well during
our milder spring and fall weather. Further in the north, using straw
bales or insulated wood boxes are necessary to protect cold hardy plants.
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If you have not done so already,
draw a diagram of your vegetable garden as it was this year, and begin planning
your crop rotations for next year’s garden. This pre-planning makes
structuring and planting the garden in the spring easier and faster.
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To set up an indoor light system,
replace any fluorescent light bulbs, if needed; and make sure everything
is in working order to begin starting seeds for flowers and vegetables at
the appropriate time for your region. Begin with cool season flowers, such
as pansies, violas and snapdragons, and vegetables, such as broccoli and
salad greens, to get a jump on the season.
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You can grow small pots of herbs
in sunny windows or under lights, so you have easy access to snip and use
in your recipes. This is a great way to interest kids in growing plants,
especially when they can add them to the recipe themselves.
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If there are predictions of a
very severe cold snap approaching, protect evergreens from drying out by
wrapping them with a frost protection cover or using an anti-desiccant to
prevent the leaves or needles from drying out. If you choose to use an
anti-desiccant, be sure to follow all directions on the label.
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During milder temperatures, always
check perennials; and if they have heaved out of the ground, push them
back down or use some extra mulch for protection until the weather warms
up.
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You can start an indoor worm bin
using old newspapers torn into strips for bedding, and add kitchen
vegetable wastes for them to feed on. You will be producing “worm castings”
for your houseplants or garden – another great organic fertilizer. This is
another good way to get kids interested in gardening.
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During each mild spell in the
weather, check the vegetable garden beds, securing row covers as needed to
protect early spring crops.
Late Winter and Early
Spring
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Nowis the time to start checking fruit trees for pests and use a
dormant spray if necessary. Prune
out dead wood, crossing branches and open up the center of the tree so
more sun can reach the interior. I find a pole pruner can be very beneficial
for this, and STIHL offers both manual or powered.
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Check ornamental shrub and
perennial borders, pruning out dead wood, and cut back dead flower stalks
and grasses prior to new growth beginning in the spring. It is much easier
to take the time to do this now rather than have to worry about pruning
around the new growth, and the STIHL
KombiSystem with the power scythe attachment can make this quick work.
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As the ground begins to thaw in
the spring, start working the soil in the vegetable garden if you did not
do so in the fall. Turn the soil in large, shovel-full sized chunks and
leave it to help the soil drain and warm. You should not overwork the soil
if it is very wet. This is also a good time to begin adding soil
amendments by layering them over the top and turning them in later when
you prepare the beds for planting.
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As the weather warms, you can
begin turning your compost and leaf piles during thaws and recover them to
help them retain heat. If the pile has gotten too wet, add some dry leaves
or straw to the mix to dry it out and keep it heating. A good rule of
thumb is to keep your pile as moist as a wrung-out sponge.
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If you haven’t already done so,
you should check perennial vegetables and fruits, such as asparagus and
raspberries, and remove the dead fronds and canes. Add a top dressing of
fertilizer at this time to get them off to a good start.
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As spring draws nearer, clean up
winter weeds in the garden, beds and borders; and put down a pre-emergent
to prevent weed seeds from germinating, following to the manufacturer’s
instructions. Be sure you do NOT use this where you will want seeds to
germinate such as in the vegetable garden. A pre-emergent does not
differentiate between a weed seed and a flower or vegetable seed. Organic
corn gluten is a good pre-emergent for lawns as it is comprised of
nitrogen and will feed your lawn at the same time.
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Begin planting cool season annual
flowers and vegetables in the garden and starting seeds for warm season
vegetables such as eggplant and tomatoes as the weather begins to warm up!
About P. Allen
Smith
Smith
is the author of the best-selling Garden Home book series and is
considered one of the foremost gardening and outdoor living experts in the
country. In addition to his own nationally-syndicated television series on
commercial networks, P. Allen Smith Gardens, he also hosts P. Allen
Smith’s Garden Home on public television and is a frequent guest on the TODAY
Show.
Smith has received several national
awards for helping to educate and inspire the American public about the joys of
gardening.
About
STIHL Inc.
STIHL Inc. manufactures the number one selling brand of gasoline-powered handheld outdoor
power equipment in America for homeowners and professional landscapers*, as
well as the number one selling brand of chain saws in the world. STIHL
products are sold through servicing power equipment retailers from coast to
coast — not mass merchants. STIHL products sold through U.S. STIHL dealers are
for distribution in the
*"Number one selling brand" is
based on syndicated Irwin Broh Research (commercial landscapers) as well as
independent consumer research of 2009-2011 U.S. sales and market share data for
the gasoline-powered handheld outdoor power equipment category combined sales
to consumers and commercial landscapers.
STIHL is the official handheld
outdoor power equipment sponsor of both P.
P.
