_edited.png)
Well we are now officially in the thick of winter and it can be hard to imagine the garden filled with flowers and buzzing insects, however don’t be dismayed there are still some fun tasks you can set out to do!
Reflect & Set Gardening Goals- Some things I do during the early winter are reflect on the past year in the garden and consider what went well and what was not so great. I recommend keeping a little notebook with all your seed planting dates and whatever other jobs you did throughout the year so you can go back and make adjustments as needed for things that didn’t work as well as note the things that did. After assessing this, set some goals for the upcoming year ahead and what changes you would love to see in your space. Eg. More potted patio flowers over every season, successfully growing a potted tomato from seed, amend my soil and make a compost pile.
Order Seeds and on Sale bulbs- In some zones you can plant bulbs during winter as long as they get 6-8 weeks of cold. If you are in zone 9 and up and your climate doesn’t get cold enough pop the bulbs in the fridge - note they need to be out and planted by mid February at the latest. There are two times to plant hardy annuals - Fall and 6-8 weeks before the last frost in Winter. Some seeds do just fine being sprinkled and pressed into freshly turned soil eg. Belles of Ireland and larkspur and others could do with a little help along if you are late to get planting eg. Sweet peas. Alternatively you can wait until the last frost and direct seed straight after that date. Every zone is different so find out your zone and last frost and work out your dates from there.
Tidy up your garden - if there are any leaves, pots and mess you didn’t get during Fall now is the time to prepare and have all this completed so you are ready to go in Spring. This year I am late to get my leaves tidied but even though they are a little soggy I can easily scoop them up with a large garden fork and make a nice leaf mold pile to amend my soil with early Spring. If you have a potting area that is a mess from years of work, now is a great time to give this area a tidy up as well.
Plan the addition of any new beds - if your soil isn’t frozen and you're not too cold you can get out and cut out new beds. I am lifting some grass in areas and laying down new beds. Amending with some old leaves and manure and other beds which I will not plant urgently I am laying down cardboard and topping with mulch to kill back the large areas of grass. This way when I am ready to plant en masse I will have grass free soil to work with. Let's face it, no one likes lifting grass!
Maintain your Garden Tools- Winter is the perfect time to inspect all your garden tools, clean, sanitize and sharpen them. If any need to be replaced then now is a great time to do this so you are ready once the days warm up.
I hope you enjoy getting a few things done, doing a little planning and dreaming of the bountiful Spring that will come before you know it.
Take care friend
Comments