Winter Gardening Tips
What can you do to care for your plants during the winter? Even though many plants go into dormancy during the winter months, don’t forget about them! Here are some tips to ensure your garden will make it through the cold.
1. Snow Protection: Be sure to cover up marginally hardy and cold-sensitive plants with tarps. Layered burlap is best… make sure you don’t use plastic/blue tarps since your plants need to be able to breathe. This helps keep the wind chill temps down by creating protection without suffocating them. Bring any containers inside; empty out the soil and flip them upside down so that water doesn’t collect inside and freeze. Check up on your evergreens and remove excess snow that has built up to prevent damage. Remember to brush upwards to remove snow since brushing downwards puts more stress on the branches and can cause unwanted breakage.
2. Apply Wilt-Pruf: Sun, wind, and salt are rough on evergreens during the winter and can cause a lot of common issues like leaf curling, bark splitting from sunburn, and more. Protect them by spraying Wilt-Pruf and applying Gypsum to the soil around plants that are close to the road to prevent salt damage.
3. Prune: Safely prune off any damage that might have occurred from the harsh conditions. General and maintenance pruning should wait till mid-March.
4. Secure Seeds: Now is a great time to purchase any seeds you want to start indoors for planting later in the spring or summer. The early bird gets the worm!
5. Houseplant Care: Don’t forget that even from inside your house, plants can react negatively to the colder months… so be sure to keep a close eye on your houseplants and keep them away from drafts! Monitor indoor temp and humidity and cut back on watering and fertilizer as your plants slow down their growth during the winter months.
6. Plan for Spring: What do you want to grow this year? Thinking about spring planting is a great way to get yourself out of the winter blues.
