How to winterize your garden

12 Steps to prep your garden for winter

Shelagh McNally, eco options, Fall 2007

The garden is our personal connection to nature’s cycles, and autumn is when your reap your harvest.  But it’s also the time to prepare your little corner of the world for winter.  Follow these 12 easy steps and your garden will overwinter well and look glorious next spring.

1.  CUT BACK ON GRASS

In our quest for the perfect green outdoor carpet, Canadians spend $1.6-million a year on lawn-care products and dump 10 times more chemical fertilizers and pesticides per acre than are used on farmland.  But having a perfect lawn actually might be a lost cause.  Grass is not indigenous to North America – it is native only to Europe and Asia.  Having a lawn is a fad that began in the 1800s when we decided to imitate English gardens.  We used to cut the grass once or twice a year until the mass-production of the push lawn-mower that began in 1870.  Now Canadians spend 40 hours each summer mowing, which releases about 80,000 tonnes of green-house-gas emissions.

Free yourself from the tyranny of grass upkeep! Try taking up some sod and planting and planting spring bulbs in a variety of sizes to give your garden color from early spring to late summer.

Look for firm, heavy bulbs with no scratches or cracks.  In general, large flowers grow from large bulbs, and smaller flowers grow from small bulbs.  A good rule of thumb is to plant the bulbs at a depth of three or four times the height of the bulb.  Plant early enough so the roots get a chance to grow a bit before the frost.  Tulips, bluebells, daffodils, hyacinths, grape hyacinths, irises, lilies, crocuses and snowdrops are all good choices.

2.  IMPROVE YOUR GRASS

Another way to cut down on grass upkeep is to fertilize, reseed or throw down new sod on your lawn before the snow comes.  Turf researchers consider the fall to be the most important time to fertilize, because it prepares the grass for the harshest time of year and also let s the grass absorb needed nutrients and store them for the following spring.

However, fast-release fertilizers may release all their nutrients quickly, but the grass can only pick up and use some of them.  The remainder can leach through the soil and contaminate our ground-water.

One of the reasons Eco Options has certified Perfectly Natural Winter-Prep Lawn Fertilizer is that it nutrients are released more slowly and at a rate the grass can absorb.  Equally important, its ingredients are 100% natural, and contain no synthetics, sewage sludge or waste materials that might include heavy metals (which can pollute the soil).  It also doesn’t’ contain weed-killing additives that might have harmful chemicals, so there’s no waiting time after you’ve applied it – and no danger to kids or pets playing on the lawn or dogs and cats trying to eat the grass!

3.  PULL UP WEEDS AND CUT OUT OLD GROWTH!

Get a head start on unwanted spring visitors by pulling weeds before they spread their seeds.  Throw the weeks onto your compost pile, discarding any that look diseased.  Cut back tall grasses and remove old stems and leaves on or from underneath shrubs, roses and trees to discourage any small critters from moving in to winter on your property. If you have time to also add compost and turn the soil, you won’t need to do much tilling in the spring.

4.  THE ANNUAL SALUTE

Be sure to collect seeds from your favorite annuals to replant in the spring, and take cuttings for house plants.  after the first serious frost, pull up the annuals and throw only the healthy ones onto your compost, leaving aside any that look diseased.

5.  SAVE THOSE LEAVES

Sometimes being lazy is the best way to be green.  For years we’ve been wasting free organic material by throwing out leaves (30% of landfill garbage is a combination of yard and kitchen waste). 

Instead, use leaves as a protective blanket for flower beds a matted mess that smothers plants.  You can also put leaves into your composter, or mulch them (in small quantities) with an electric mulching mower.

6.  WELCOME NEW NEIGHBOURS

In autumn, the air becomes cooler than the soil, so now’s the time for planting a new tree or late-flowering shrubs.  Dig a hole or two or three times the width of plant’s root ball and place it into well-drained fertile soil.  When your perennials have gone dormant, shrubs or trees that have been in the garden one year or less should be fertilized; older, more established plants can be left alone.

7.  PERENNIAL PREPARATION

Perennials need cool fall temperature to become hardy for winter, so don’t mulch them until the first frost.  When a perennial is dormant – when  the flower heads and laves have died – most can be cut back to 2 in. (5 cm) from the base to promote root growth.  Hostas, peonies, bleeding hearts, day lilies, delphiniums and geraniums are just some of the perennials that benefit from being cut back.

Seed-bearing perennials such as black-eyed Susans and Echinacea can be left, since they’re attractive in a winter garden and provide food for the birds.

8.  OUTWIT JACK FROST

Don’t fertilize or prune established shrubs or trees at the end of the season, since this could promote new growth that the frost will kill.  But do remove dead or damaged branches.  Clear away any summer mulch from stems to promote winter hardiness.  Give your trees and shrubs a deep soak with a long, slow flow of water to help them through the winter. A soaker hose is a good way to water slowly and accurately, since it applies water only where it’s needed, not on pathways or plants’ leaves.

Winterize evergreen plants either by wrapping them in burlap or by hammering in three or four stakes around the plant and wrapping burlap around to create a wind screen and protect them from frost.

9.  GET SOME WINTER COLOUR

We don’t usually think of cabbage as a colourful plant. But the new hybrids or ornamental cabbages and kale (Bassica oleracea) are actually quite showy, with shades ranging from white to pinks, purples and reds.  Their colour intensifies throughout the first few frosts, making them perfect for the winter garden.  Some ornamental grasses also keep their colour, while chrysanthemums and asters are perfect cold-hardy flowers.

10.  PROTECTING THE DELICATE

Gladioli, dahlias, cannas and other tender tuberous plants should be dug up after the frost has killed the tops.  Climbers like clematis should be fastened down so they don’t whip about in the wind.  Roses can be mulched heavily (at least 6 in./15 cm) or wrapped with burlap.  Usually plants that go dormant in winter are cold hardy and don’t need protection.

11.  MULCH, MULCH, MULCH

Covering your garden with a winter mulch will protect your plants against temperature fluctuations and extreme cold.  Wait until the ground starts to freeze and then spread either leaves, bark, pine needles or pine boughs over plants.  Usually 4 to 5 in. (10 to 15 cm) are enough.  Container plants should be moved indoors, but if they are too heavy, cover the soil with a generous layer of winter mulch and wrap clay posts in burlap to prevent them from breaking due to ice crystals forming in the soil and in the post itself.

12.  WINTERIZE YOUR TOOLS

Your final chore is to clean your tools so they’re free of dirt and rust.  Sharpen any cutting tools and coat any exposed metal with oil to protect from moisture.  Drain all pipes, hoses and valves, and store your tools in a dry, sheltered place.