5 Steps to Winterize your Garden (2024)

FAQs

5 Steps to Winterize your Garden? ›

Keep the base of plants free of dead leaves and debris particularly before frost. Keep watering until the ground freezes. This is the most important factor for how plants weather the winter. Apply a layer of mulch or mulched leaves in late fall.

Keep the base of plants free of dead leaves and debris particularly before frost. Keep watering until the ground freezes. This is the most important factor for how plants weather the winter. Apply a layer of mulch or mulched leaves in late fall.

Like your main garden plot, till it in, digging out as many weed and brush roots as possible to help avoid weed problems next year. Then work in as much organic material as you can, such as strawy manure, compost, or leaves. This will quietly rot during the winter, making the soil happy and healthy.

Temperature and humidity are the main storage factors to consider. There are three combinations for long-term storage: Cool and dry (50-60°F and 60% relative humidity) Cold and dry (32-40°F and 65% relative humidity)

Layer fallen, shredded tree leaves, compost and fertilizer in the garden bed and turn under the soil. You could also dig trenches in the garden, pile in the leaves and compost and cover with soil. These organic soil amendments will decompose over winter and leave the soil more fertile when spring rolls around.

Advantages of Fall Fertilizing

It's the best way to build healthy soil. The nutrients you add have all winter to break down into the soil.

Apply hay or mulch to insulate plants.

This measure holds in both heat and moisture to protect root systems. Water jugs filled with warm water and placed in the mulch provide even more protection from the cold.

How do you winterize plants in the ground? ›

Build a small screen around plants, heap soil over roots and stuff the screened-in area with leaves or straw. For some tender perennials, cut back top growth and place a layer of packing foam over the plant crown, topped with several inches of soil. Once that freezes, add a mulch layer for extra protection.

Cover Plants – Protect plants from all but the hardest freeze (28°F for five hours) by covering them with sheets, towels, blankets, cardboard or a tarp. You can also invert baskets, coolers or any container with a solid bottom over plants. Cover plants before dark to trap warmer air.

Your garden will benefit in a big way. Here how to use them: Insulate Tender Plants: A 6-inch blanket of leaves protects tender plants from winter wind and cold. Cover cold-hardy vegetables—such as carrots, kale, leeks and beets—and you'll be able to harvest them all winter.

Preserve perennials and cover fall crops.

After a couple of killing frosts, dig up and divide any delicate plants that can't get through winter in the dirt. Container plants can be taken into root cellars, or unheated garages—or even buried in the ground or compost piles.

In reality, leaving dead leaves and stems until later in the winter has little-to-no effect on the overall health of most perennials. With that said, allowing decomposing material to stick around for too long can begin to build up a thatch layer, eventually impeding the healthy growth of garden perennials.

For vegetable gardens, another option is to simply cover your garden beds with black plastic or a layer of cardboard or even an old carpet, leaving it in place through the winter season and up until you're ready to plant in spring. This will kill existing weeds and subdue sprouting seeds.

One simple solution is to build a simple hoop house to cover them. It can not only help keep your plants warmer in frosty conditions, but also dry when it's wet and shaded in the scorching sun. Another option is a cold frame or portable greenhouse.