4 Tips to Help You Prep Your Garden for Winter
If you have a garden, you should be proud enough of it to want to keep it in great shape every single season. Keep in mind that your garden will have different needs as the seasons change. Staying ahead of these is the best way for you to make sure that your home’s outside area looks amazing and you’ll be happy to spend time in it whenever you please. Here are four helpful tips that can help you prepare your garden for winter so that you safeguard all your hard work.
1. Prepare the Shrubs and Trees
To start off, you need to prep your shrubs and trees adequately. To do this, don’t prune them right before winter even if they appear a little overgrown. This is because you’re going to open wounds that won’t have the time to heal before the cold sets in. You also need to cover young fruit trees by wrapping their lower trunk with pest-proof tree wrap. This is going to save them from getting gnawed on by pests like mice. Finally, you ought to dig a hole for planting your Christmas tree if you intend to buy one before the ground freezes. You won’t need many specialized tools for these tasks, even though you may be one of the 228.73 million Americans who owned lawn and garden equipment in 2020, according to Statista.
2. Cover Your Garden
Next, it’s a great idea for you to cover your garden beds so that they remain safe from the harsh cold. To do this, you should add some manure or compost in late autumn so that the soil soaks up the nutrients. To prevent erosion, add a light layer of mulch or straw so that you can prevent nutrient leaching, soil erosion, and the development of weeds.
Alternatively, you can sow cover crops like winter rye so that your soil’s health can be improved considerably. If you have a vegetable garden, you can simply cover it with a layer of cardboard or a layer of plastic. This may be similar to adding shades to your windows. On this note, remember that solar cellular shades can actually save you up to 20% on your home’s energy bill, according to The Washington Post.
3. Know When to Harvest
If you have herbs and vegetables in your garden, you should know the best time to harvest them so that they don’t get damaged by the cold. Keep in mind that tender vegetables like tomatoes, peas, pumpkins, and zucchini all need to be harvested before the cold strikes. Hardier vegetables like spinach, kale, broccoli, and even brussel sprouts can survive the winter and be used throughout the frosty season as needed.
With food crops, your home is sure to be considerably more sustainable, and this is in line with what a number of homeowners aim for with upgrades. On this note, the most common customizations that homeowners requested included energy-efficient features at 90%, followed by a separate laundry room at 81%. Next up was exterior lighting at 81%, a walk-in pantry at 78%, and finally a dedicated home office at 76%, according to a survey that was done by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
4. Turn off Your Water
Last but not least, remember to turn off your lawn and garden water system. This is going to save your equipment from the damage that awaits it in case the frost catches it outside, and with water still in it. If your home is in a considerably colder climate, you should either bring everything inside and wait for winter to pass, or blast out all the water with an air compressor. If the winters aren’t too cold in your area, you can get away with simply disconnecting your water system.
These four tips should come in handy for you in terms of winterizing your garden before winter. Following them will help you save your garden from the ravages of frost and ensure that you can pick up from where you left off when the weather gets warmer. You’ll be able to do this with minimal hassle and at no extra cost to you.