Top 10 tips to prepare your garden for winter
Top 10 tips to prepare your garden for winter
It’s that time of year again when the nights are drawing in, the leaves have fallen and the temperatures are starting to drop. The arrival of winter means it’s time to start preparing our gardens for the fast-approaching spring. Keep reading for our Top 10 tips to prepare your garden for winter.
Start planning for spring
Why not start planning out your garden for spring? Take a look around your garden and take stock. Think about what plants you would like more of or where there are gaps you would like to fill. Then, let your creativity run wild!
Prune trees and shrubs
Some trees and shrubs will require some light pruning during winter. This will keep them healthy and help tidy up their shape and size to keep them manageable, fruit trees in particular will benefit from winter pruning, and rose bushes later February time.
Plant evergreens
Another way to brighten up your winter garden is by planting evergreens. This way, even when the flowers have faded, you will still be left with gorgeous foliage, giving you year-round interest. Some of our favourites include Sarcococca, winter flowering Camellia sasanqua and Viburnum Rock'N'Rolla.
Plant up winter containers and baskets
We often think of winter as being a rather barren time in the garden, but it need not be with the help of winter flowering plants. These plants will add some much needed colour when most other plants have faded away. We recommend plants such as Pansies, Violas and Primula as they flower for a number of months through from autumn to spring, bringing bright pops of colour to your pots, baskets and window boxes.
Protect the wildlife
Winter is a tough time for our wildlife, so we would like to encourage gardeners to help them out by putting extra food out for them during this time or even a little hideout to shelter from the hardest frosts. As a bonus to helping the animals, you will also get to watch them scurry and fly about your garden, and potentially help you out with some common gardens pests like caterpillars and aphids down the line!
Protect garden furniture
As the cold weather starts to set in, now is the time to start protecting and storing garden furniture so it doesn’t become damaged. Fabric cushions should be stored indoors and furniture that is kept outside should kept under a waterproof cover.
Clear leaves or leave them!
Now that the plants are dying back, it’s the perfect time to give your garden a tidy up. Clean up your borders and clear up the fallen leaves. Clearing up leaves from paths will stop you from slipping on them and the leaves can be gathered and used to make leaf mould, which can then be used for mulch. Alternatively, don't forget, leaf matter makes the perfect hideout for visiting insects and hedgehogs, 70% of our hedgehog population has declined in recent years, if needs must and you like the tidy look of a garden pop the leaves under some shrubs or a cut back perennial borders so the hedgehogs have somewhere to hide!
Mulching
As well as lifting tender plants that are not appropriate to leave in the garden, for other plants that do not require lifting, a mulch should be applied. This will help to protect the plants roots over the cold winter. Mulch can be made from a number of different things including leaf mould, garden compost, wood chippings, straw and any more.
Plant remaining spring flowering bulbs
Got any bulbs left? Now is the perfect time to get them in the ground! If you're already deep into winter, the keep an eye out for 'in the green bulbs' to plant. As a general rule, we recommend planting your bulbs at a depth of about 2-3 times the height of the bulb and with space in between them of about 2 bulb widths. The beauty of bulbs is that they are so easy to grow and really be planted however and wherever you like just as long as they have well-drained soil in sun or partial shade.
Plant hardy perennials
Contrary to popular belief, you can still garden and plant plants in the winter! Winter can be a great time to get hardy perennials in the ground, whilst there may not be much life going on above the pots, the roots will benefit from the early head start. If you're worried about really hard frosts, or if you have compacted clay, perhaps work in the area first with rich, organic matter, and wait for the soil to warm slightly. Look for perennials with an 'H7' hardiness rating like Hellebores, Persicaria and Aquilegia that will tolerate cold snaps even down to -20°C! Equally, there's no harm in waiting for the spring, just remember to get the soil tippy top for when you do decide to plant.
