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Gardening Tips & Advice
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Winter Garden
Preparation
Why get your
garden winter ready? Winterizing your garden in fall is the way
to ensure that come spring you will have less work and more time to
enjoy the spring flowers. While plants and lawns do become dormant,
they
still need some pre-winter care and protection to make sure they are
at their best in spring.
Get ready to winterize your garden!
Here are some
simple winterizing tips and ideas that you can do this fall to make sure your garden is
ready and prepared for the colder weather this winter.
Winter garden clean-up
 | Remove all
the dead flowers and prune off any bushes or shrubs so that you
won’t be caught in the spring when it may be too late to prune. (see
our article on when to prune.)
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| Pull up any
weeds, rake up fallen leaves and any other garden debris. Don’t
leave piles of raked leaves sitting on your lawn over the winter as
this will kill your grass! Except for some types of weeds, you can compost
most of these materials.
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| If you have
vegetable garden beds, turn the soil over with a gardening fork or spade
then
cover the dirt with a layer of leaves or grass clippings. This
will act as a mulch and besides breaking down over winter to enrich
your soil, it will prevent any hardy spring weeds from coming up when
the ground warms a little.
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| Plant any
spring flowering bulbs now, such as daffodils and tulips. Be sure
to plant in clusters as this makes a nice show when they come up
rather than a row of “soldiers”.
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| Some of your
more tender plants and shrubs may need to be covered for winter if you live in
a colder zone. You can cover the base of your plants with leaves or
other mulch but if you expect a very cold freeze, try completely
covering with burlap or potato sacks.
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| Finally,
organize your garden fertilizers and tools. Don’t leave shovels and spades
sitting all winter with dirt on them! Clean them off, sharpen them
and store them undercover so that they won’t rust. Dispose of any
old fertilizers or pesticides and make sure that any powders,
crystals or granules are stored properly so that they won’t get damp
over the winter. |
Now your garden is winter ready!
Just a weekend
of winter preparation can make a huge difference for your garden in
spring. So before you go inside and shut the door on your garden
for the season, make sure to winterize your yard properly.
To see
garden storage sheds or other winterizing products, visit some of
these
garden shed retailers that we have rated.
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