10 Tips to Maintaining Your Winter Garden

min read

Gardening is often thought of as a spring and summer passion. Colder temperatures put plants into dormancy, giving you a break from weeding, pruning and trimming back overgrowth. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t care for your garden through the winter. Here are our best winter garden tips to get ready for spring.

 

Use Mulch To Protect the Soil

Mulch keeps weeds from popping up over the winter. It also helps keep the roots warmer throughout the season. Using organic mulch can add nutrients to your soil as it breaks down. However, you shouldn’t add fertilizer to your garden through the colder months. You want your plants to be in a state of dormancy. Fertilizer can disrupt your winter garden by interrupting the plant’s natural downtime. You don’t want your plants to sprout back to life too soon in the spring.

 

Winter Garden Maintenance - Max Warehouse

Protect Plants

Although your bulbs will likely survive the winter without any problems, small shrubs, perennials and young trees may suffer through the colder temperatures. Add wraps and plant covers to your list and put them on before winter frosts damage young plants. Make sure to check the base of the covers through the winter to tuck any plants back under.

 

Winter Plant Care - Max Warehouse

 

Take Care of Your Lawn and Garden

If your winter is dry, you should still water the soil. Some gardening experts recommend watering before a hard freeze to allow the plants to get a good drink of water before the ground freezes. You should remove weeds that pop up through the winter. The best time to remove them is after a rain or when the ground is moist. You can more easily pull the weeds out and be sure to get the roots.

 

Weed Removing - Max Warehouse

Use Your Time To Educate Yourself

If you’re spending more time inside during the winter, take time to read those magazines that came all summer when you were enjoying the sun. Make your plans for changes to your garden in the spring when you’re uprooting plants that didn’t survive. Study up on ways to make your garden more eco-friendly by using native plants or installing irrigation. Get your spring gardening ideas over the winter when you have time to work out the logistics.

 

Prep Your Garden and Tools for the Spring

Use the winter months to clean up and sharpen your gardening tools. Inspect the hoses and sprinklers for damage to replace or repair before you need them in the spring. Get your seeds ordered and plan when to plant them to have them ready for your spring garden. You’ll get a jump start and save money by starting your own plants. You’ll even have more options than you would if you waited to buy pre-grown plants at the nursery.

 

Sharpen your tools - Max Warehouse

Inventory and Organize Your Supplies

Before you hit the gardening store in the spring, you should know what you have and what you really need and want for the season. Go through your shed and make a list of what’s on hand. If you bought something that didn’t work last season, make a note so you won’t buy it again. Take stock of your garden tools and note what should be replaced. Do some self-reflection on problems you had over the past year. Look for solutions while you have time to browse articles and books about gardening.

 

Organize your Garden Tools - Max Warehouse

 

Consider Hardscaping Elements

Hardscaping elements can transform your outside space into a more functional part of your home. Adding a fire pit can give you an extra place for entertaining, whether it’s a party or just the family. Everyone loves a bonfire on a cool evening in the fall or early spring. An outdoor kitchen gives you extra space for cooking without a full kitchen remodel. Paving stones are a great way to add texture to your patio and eliminate the need for mowing and watering the entire yard. Winter is a great time to think about how you want to use your yard and to make plans for summer renovations.

 

Firepit - Max Warehouse

Invest in a Winter Garden

There’s something soothing about tending to plants and playing in the soil. Even if you can’t plant things outside, you can still enjoy indoor gardening. Plant some fresh herbs that should do well inside your house. If you have space and money, invest in a greenhouse where you can plant lettuce and other types of greens that do well in that environment. Root crops, like potatoes and carrots, can also do well in a greenhouse. Just because there’s snow on the ground doesn’t mean you can’t find alternatives.

 

Add Color to Your Winter Garden

Many plants thrive through the winter and add beauty and color to an otherwise drab landscape. The plants that will work in your zone vary, but evergreens are usually hardy enough for even the coldest temperatures. A holly bush offers a deep green shrub studded with red berries. Japanese maples have lovely shades of color that don’t fade through the winter. It may be too late to plant this year, but you can start your research for winter plants for your garden to know when the best time to plant them will be.

 

Winter colors - Max Warehouse

Off-Season Gardening Is Enjoyable

You may not have your hands in the soil in the winter. Winter gardening can still be pleasurable, just different. Enjoy the off-season to get a head start on spring. Shop for lawn care and garden supplies with Max Warehouse to be ready for the first signs of spring.

 


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