- Tidying up the garden and remove dead plants
- Relocating trees, pruning trees, shrubs
- Starting seeds indoors
- Planting bulbs and bare root roses (if the soil is not frozen)
- Adding fertility back into the soil
Winter is an ideal time to take a break from gardening. The days get shorter and colder. However, there is a lot of things you can do during winter to set up your garden for spring. Personally, it’s a time for me to be able to plan ahead and set up my garden for Spring. Most gardeners are super busy from Spring and Summer since these are the ideal times when plants are really thriving with hotter and longer days of the sun. Since I have been non stop since Spring, Winter is the time when I can finally clean up my garden and prep for the next season.
- Tidying up the garden and removing dead plants. This is the time to clean up any plant that has died in your garden. Mostly annuals, I assume but sometimes I just have the occasional plant that has mysteriously died. Dig it out and it goes in then green bin. You know the saying, out with the old, in with the new. We need to make space for new plants by removing the dead plants. Long gone are the tomatoes that did so well during the summer. Where I’m from, I don’t have snow so I can keep working in my garden. The plants are not really growing anymore but if they are, it’s pretty slowly.
- If you need to relocating any trees, the best time to do is after all the leaves have fell off and it’s in a dormant state. Maybe you thought it was such a good place to have the plant but after awhile, it got so big over time and it was unexpectedly huge. It would be a good time to move it to another area in your garden. Pruning shrubs and giving it a hair cut will keep it nice and tidy. Winter is a perfect time to do it when the the growth is slow and it won’t shock a plant.
- Starting seeds during winter to have them ready for spring is a fantastic idea. This one is my challenges that I face at the moment because I liketo start seeds indoors where it’s warmer so they sprout but then the window doesn’t provide enough light so the seedlings can get leggy. I am thinking of getting a grow light to help with this process soon. How do you start your seeds?
- Do you like roses? I do. If you don’t have snow, you can plant bare root roses in the winter. Ideally you might want to plant them before Spring so you can see it starting to form new leaves as the season changes. Bulbs are another one of those things that you can plant. Make sure to follow the directions and fertilize when planting and then just let them do what they do best in Spring. Isn’t it a miracle that they just know when to grow?
- This is a time when I can add nutrients back to my soil. I dump my Bokashi into each of the raised beds and fiber pots that hosted vegetables. I’ll also sprinkle in some organic fertilizer and and azomite while I’m at it. When I touch the soil, there is a sense of happiness that I feel. The feeling that we have been taken care of by this regenerative soil that we created over time. The plants that grow here are happy and healthy and attracts beneficial wildlife.
