Winter Gardening Tips
Winter is well and truly on its way, which means it’s time to get the woolly jumpers out of the loft, fill up those hot water bottles and stay inside as much as possible. It’s typically a time when we neglect the gardens we’ve been working so hard on all spring and summer… but what if this year was different? What if we embraced gardening despite the treacherous icy winter weather? That’s right green-fingered Prelovers! These handy winter gardening tips are guaranteed to give you some winter gardening inspiration.
Tidy Up the Borders
A good place to start our winter gardening endeavours is at the borders. Now is the perfect time to begin fixing any fencing that may have broken during the summer months, as well as cut back weeds that have started to grow over the areas that segregate paths, flower beds and vegetable patches from the lawn. Doing this now will ensure that the garden will still look neat during winter.
Don’t Neglect Sweeping
Basic garden maintenance such as sweeping up dead leaves and excess foliage makes a huge difference to a winter garden. November is a brilliant time for this as the trees have almost finished shedding their leafy goodness. It’s a brilliant idea to sweep the leaves into a separate pile in order to make leaf mould.
Make Leaf Mould
Leaf mould is invaluable and makes great soil conditioner for when re-planting season (eventually) comes back around. When thinking about making leaf mould it is useful to consider that some leaves break down quicker than others: oak, hornbeam and alder being the quickest.
Clean the Greenhouse
As the daylight hours get increasingly shorter, the plants in the greenhouse need as much light as they can get. Washing the panels of the greenhouse, inside and out, is a great idea and gives the greenhouse plants a little helping hand.
Plant an Apple Tree
This one may sound rather ridiculous, but winter is actually a great time to plant new fruit trees! Of course, this is not the case if the ground is frozen or if particularly bad weather is forecast.
Holly bushes and evergreens make great editions to the garden during the winter months. These types of plants however, are best planted in Spring or Autumn. If you don’t already have these in your garden, planting these could be a gardening priority for next year!
Provide for the Birds
It’s important to always consider wildlife that may be struggling during the winter months. Remembering to top up the birdfeeder despite the cold weather is essential. Another great way which we can help the birds is by placing a floating ball in the bird bath, so that even when it freezes over, the ball can be removed and a hole will be left in the ice. Genius!
So put on those furry gloves! Tuck your hair inside those bobble hats! It’s time to keep those gardens looking beautiful.
