Preparing My Yard And Garden For Winter

The bright-colored season has come to an end and winter is sure to pile heaps of white snow everywhere. The green and colorful yard should be winterized, so it’s ready to survive the winter cold.

A natural source of nutrients for the yard is the leaves left scattered by autumn. Leaf mold is an ideal fertilizer, which is free and also takes little effort to do. Aside from lessening the effort that you need to exert in bagging the leaves, you can also expect the finished product to be good for the entire yard and garden. The following tips should be kept in mind:

• Rake the leaves and collect them properly.
• Store it in a space surrounded with chicken wire to avoid wind blowing it over.
• Consider mowing them first to cut the leaves to smaller pieces so they decompose faster.

You can use mulch to protect plants, like bud onions and crown of roses. You can stack them with mulch over a foot high above the base. For plants like climbing roses, the canes can either be wrapped with burlap or detached from the supporting trellis and laid horizontally on the ground. You can then cover them with mulch.

You may winterize berry patches by following special procedures for each plant.

• Cover strawberry patches with either straw or hay.
• Mound up soil around blackberries with soil to avoid freezing them.
• Prune raspberries since they will bear new canes when spring comes.

Water flowers and perennials thoroughly during the fall. Move potted plants indoors or to sheltered spots.

As for vegetable plants like carrots, horseradish, leeks and turnips, you can harvest them even in early winter. Mark planting beds with stakes so they’re easier to find in the snow. This is also a good indicator for others so they’ll avoid walking on the vegetables.

• Garden containers and such should be emptied out and stored upside down to keep them from cracking due to the cold.
• You also need to empty out the lawn mower’s fuel tank, as well as any other gasoline-powered equipment.
• Keep hoses indoors as this may damage it and may not last until next spring.
• Lubricate gardening tools before storing them away for safekeeping.

If you have a problem with slugs overwhelming the plants, then the best thing that you can do is to put eggshells around them. The soft bodies of slugs can’t tolerate eggshells. Get help with your lawn care and maintenance for the winter season.

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