How to Prep Your Garden For Winter
Winter is coming, but soon enough, spring will be here. To ensure the following season’s abundance, here are a few tasks for your autumn to-do list to keep Jack Frost from claiming your lavish landscapes.
The natural conclusion of a season isn’t a definitive exclamation mark, but an ellipsis. If your USDA growing zone is impacted by winter’s harsh howls, here’s how to batten down the hatches, protect the bearded irises, and prepare the garden for winter.
Prune perennials.
Hydrangeas are an emblem of East Coast gardens. Their puffy fuchsia, lilac, and Nantucket blue blooms add elegant intrigue to the face of Capes and Colonials. To maintain their curbside wow factor, cut them back before the snow descends. But before clipping, decipher if your variety grows on new wood or old wood. That’ll determine where and how to prune accordingly. These garden classics are not the only recurring blooms you should prune: Peonies, salvia, and day lilies bounce back with admirable vibrancy after submitting to the shears. While clipping stems back to basal foliage may seem counterintuitive, you’ll be rewarded with floral fireworks next summer.
Tuck your garden in with mulch.
Take perennial care further by mulching the hardy plants. Think of mulch as the garden’s cashmere throw. The organic matter tucks perennials in for a cozy season as frost begins to glitter on the ground. Even for your most hardy plants, mulch adds a layer of security. This winter preparedness will help regulate soil temperature to keep lingering florals from falling victim to frost heaving and avoid soil erosion from the harsh, howling winds.
Plant a cover crop.
All life is not lost in a winter garden. Growing is still possible, and is, in fact, a decadent supplement for the soil. While the pruned echinacea sits dormant, cover crops such as rye, buckwheat, and crimson clover work to protect garden beds from soil erosion and weed growth. Additional benefits of cover crops include improving the nutritive content of the soil you’re working with which can boost next season’s growth for a bountiful harvest.
Dig up those dahlias!
Dig up dahlia tubers and other tender bulbs.
When you clean up the vegetable garden, pulling past peak tomato vines, don’t forget about the tender bulbs. Once the first frost hits your zone, unearth the dahlia and calla lily bulbs. Clean them by shaking off soil, rinsing and drying before storing in a cool place for the season. Once stowed away for winter, check on your bulbs every so often for signs of mold or rotting. If you spot anything suspicious, dispose of the bulbs to prevent spoilage of next spring’s batch of dinner plate dahlias.
Plant garlic.
Tender bulbs must be evicted from the garden, but there are hardier bulbs that can withstand (and even need) the cold blanket of winter frost, such as garlic. This allium is an easy growing essential for green thumbs with foodie tendencies. Before the ground freezes, plant your garlic cloves. The larger the clove, the bigger the bulb. Rake compost through a prepared bed, plant cloves pointy part up, two inches deep and six inches apart, and then pack a hearty layer of seedless straw on top. Once spring arrives, and the swirly scapes have been harvested, you’ll fill your pantry with braids of this flavorful asset.
Add winter interest.
Winter gardens need not damper curb appeal with shrunken, sullen, soggy foliage and heaps of hay. By adding winter interest to your border you’ll be reminded of beauty’s resiliency. Decorative branches of red berries and lush greenery like juniper and holly are easy ways to spruce up beds that have otherwise been put to rest.
Add compost.
If you want your grounds to emulate Martha Stewart’s Bedford, New York, oasis, consider compost. Layering this nutrient-dense organic matter over top soil in fall prevents the deficiency of vital nourishment that can result from a ruthless, eroding winter. Shoveling ‘black gold’ over garden beds in the fall allows it time to magically seep into the foundation of next year’s garden.
Tidy your tools.
Don’t let rusted clippers and chipped terra cotta be unveiled in winter’s thaw. To avoid this trash treasure hunt, tidy up the garden before the cold deters you from time outdoors. Wash tools accordingly, disinfecting them from diseases you don’t want next year’s crop to contract. And don’t forget to shut off the faucet to avoid water from freezing inside your garden hose. Your future self thanks you and may next year’s harvest baskets be ever-flowing.
