Protect Your Garden All Winter Long
The leaves are changing colors, the temperatures are dropping, and the days are getting shorter, you know what that means, fall is here! Now is the perfect time to get your garden ready for winter. Here are a few of my favorite ways to protect my garden all winter long.
Time To Tidy Up
While it’s tempting to ignore the final mess of dying plants and thriving weeds, spending a little more time in the garden now saves a lot of work later. Removing and destroying any residue of diseased plants will help minimize disease problems next spring. Be careful not to throw diseased plants into your compost! You can throw them into your trash or deeply bury the residue plant material to help them break down quicker and prevent overwintering.
Amend Your Soil
Fall is a great time to add soil amendments like manure, compost, and fertilizer. Adding nutrients at this time of year means they have time to start breaking down and enriching your soil. Amending soil now also means you’ll have already done some of the work when the busy season hits.
Cover Your Soil
One of the most important things to put on your fall garden checklist is to cover and protect your soil. If you can see your soil, you need to get a cover on it. A soil cover can be a cover crop or a good mulch. The addition of a soil cover is beneficial to the health of your soil by holding soil in place to prevent erosion during the winter.
Take Care of Your Tools
Now that your garden is all tucked away for winter, you can finish off your winter checklist by taking care of your garden tools. They can become dull, rusty, and dirty throughout the busy growing season. Clean, sharpen, and oil the blades of your tools so that they are ready to work come springtime. Finally, wash and properly store your seed trays and garden pots. This keeps mold and potential disease from spreading.
If you have any questions about getting your garden ready for winter, make sure to contact our team here at Selmi’s!
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