1. ‘Putting the Garden to Bed’
This is a term you may have heard of before. But, in case you are unclear on what it means, it's basically about cleaning up the garden beds and covering or otherwise protecting everything that isn't annual. Annual plants, including vegetables, will be killed once the temperatures drop significantly. Some plants, such as perennials, trees, and shrubs tend to go dormant for the winter, instead of dying.
While they may appear to be dead, they are simply laying low until the soil warms up and the days get longer. Nevertheless, use this time to make repairs to your beds, trellises, greenhouses and so on, and once the next season comes around you will be grateful. It's also a great time to create a new garden bed that will be ready to go come spring. Here's what to keep in mind:
2. Prepare and Protect Perennials for Winter
There are several ways to prevent frost or snow from settling on plant foliage. Mulch is usually the best way to go about it. Use mulch with compost, dry leaves, straw, wood chips, cardboard, shredded bark, grass clippings, or newspaper 4 to 6 inches around the base of the plants in the fall. If spring arrives early, bringing unusually warm temperatures, you may pull the mulch away from the plants a bit. But be sure not to remove it until the last frost date in your area has passed.
3. Prepare and Protect Trees and Shrubs for the Winter
Here are some handy tips to keep in mind, that will protect your trees and shrubs when the cooler months draw near:
4. What About Winter Vegetables?
While winter is generally considered downtime as far as gardening goes, cool weather crops such as spinach, broccoli, kale, cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts, and lettuce happily produce at this time of year. Plant their seeds in the early fall to make sure that they'll be well on the way once the colder weather sets in. Here's how to go about it:
