It can be tempting to only focus on your garden in the spring and the summer, but for the best-looking result, winter gardening is essential. But it can be difficult to know where to start. Below, we explore six helpful winter gardening tips.
Clean up dead plants
Investigate your plants as winter draws near. For those that are dead, check for signs of disease. If they’re diseased you should clean them up entirely to avoid parasites and pests settling in your garden. However, if the plant died naturally you can leave it out to add nutrients back to the soil. This can also protect the soil by limiting the affects of erosion. Plus, overwintering pollinators can settle in the dead plants giving them a resting spot over winter.
Add manure and compost
Many people only begin to amend their soil in the spring, but ideally, you’ll begin this process over the winter. Manure and compost are both excellent for adding nutrients to the soil, but you can try organic fertilisers such as bone meal, kelp and rock phosphate. Once you’ve added your fertiliser you should mulch the soil to help it retain the benefits and to reduce water loss plus soil erosion.
Plant bulbs
Winter is an excellent time to plant your bulbs. If any of your bulbs looked crowded last season you should dig them up and divide them to create a more aesthetically pleasing garden.
Clean and renew gardening equipment
Winter’s also a good moment to take stock of your landscaping tools. Are there gaps in your collection where you might need a new tool to help you out? Or perhaps your current inventory needs a thorough clean. Either way, it’s useful to have an optimally functioning set.
Tidy up borders
Tidying up your borders can set up your plants to thrive and look their best in the spring. By using a strimmer you’ll be able to make your borders neat and tidy – it’s amazing what a difference it can make!
Trim hedges
During winter birds won’t be nesting in your hedges. This means that it’s the opportune moment to trim them and get your garden back under control. As long as you have the correct equipment, you should be able to trim your hedges right back to ensure that your garden looks neat and tidy once more.
By putting in hard work on your garden over winter, you’ll reap the rewards in the spring and summer. You’ll need to clean up dead plants, fertilise the soil, check your equipment, tidy up borders and trim hedges, but this work will set you up perfectly for the warmer weather.