Believe it or not the warm months are not the only chances you have to work your garden. Even though the air is brisk in late winter there is still ample opportunity to put those Christmas gardening gifts to good use and spend some time outdoors. You will be able to get by with a limited set of gardening tools this time of year and the work you put in will see you ahead of the game for spring.
Break Out the Pruners
As the door begins to close on the winter season it is a great time for trimming vines. Over grown vine shoots that were tough to spot and reach during the warm months are now easy to prune. Getting an early handle on “fugitive” vines will save surrounding plants from being choked when spring comes around. Make sure you have a sturdy and comfortable set of pruners to tackle the job.
Don’t put your pruners away just yet because cutting back ornamental grasses is another chore best done during winter’s close. You want to prune back old grasses before the new growth begins to grow into the old blades making pruning unmanageable. To simplify your job wrap masking tape around tall grasses and use your pruning sheers to cut the dried growth back to ground level. A power hedge trimmer works for tough to cut grasses.
Get Creative
Winter is a great time to get a head start on your garden’s layout. We don’t wear the same clothes every day so why should your garden look the same every year. If you have a flare for design, sketching out your garden plans on graph paper with a pencil might work well. For the rest of us, there are a number of good computer based tools for gardening. Better Homes and Gardens has a very capable online garden planning tool.
For vegetable gardens draw a diagram of your garden, as it was laid out in the current year and begin planning your crop rotations for next year’s garden. This advanced planning makes setting up and planting the garden in the spring more efficient and a lot faster.
For decorative and formal gardens reconfigure your current plan to add some layout creativity and color to this year’s display. Make sure to note the location of any perennial plantings you want to keep.
Get the Kids Involved
When it gets cold outside consider starting an indoor worm bin. This will be a great chance to get your kids interested in gardening. What child doesn’t love worms?Tear up some old newspapers for bedding, and add organic kitchen waste for your new friends to eat. The worms’ “castings”, code for poop, is a great organic fertilizer.
Your family and friends should not be the only recipients of your gift giving during the winter months. Put your Santa hat back on and deliver a few gifts for the garden this winter and your spring gardening experience will be so much more satisfying.
Break Out the Pruners
As the door begins to close on the winter season it is a great time for trimming vines. Over grown vine shoots that were tough to spot and reach during the warm months are now easy to prune. Getting an early handle on “fugitive” vines will save surrounding plants from being choked when spring comes around. Make sure you have a sturdy and comfortable set of pruners to tackle the job.
Don’t put your pruners away just yet because cutting back ornamental grasses is another chore best done during winter’s close. You want to prune back old grasses before the new growth begins to grow into the old blades making pruning unmanageable. To simplify your job wrap masking tape around tall grasses and use your pruning sheers to cut the dried growth back to ground level. A power hedge trimmer works for tough to cut grasses.
Get Creative
Winter is a great time to get a head start on your garden’s layout. We don’t wear the same clothes every day so why should your garden look the same every year. If you have a flare for design, sketching out your garden plans on graph paper with a pencil might work well. For the rest of us, there are a number of good computer based tools for gardening. Better Homes and Gardens has a very capable online garden planning tool.
For vegetable gardens draw a diagram of your garden, as it was laid out in the current year and begin planning your crop rotations for next year’s garden. This advanced planning makes setting up and planting the garden in the spring more efficient and a lot faster.
For decorative and formal gardens reconfigure your current plan to add some layout creativity and color to this year’s display. Make sure to note the location of any perennial plantings you want to keep.
Get the Kids Involved
When it gets cold outside consider starting an indoor worm bin. This will be a great chance to get your kids interested in gardening. What child doesn’t love worms?Tear up some old newspapers for bedding, and add organic kitchen waste for your new friends to eat. The worms’ “castings”, code for poop, is a great organic fertilizer.
Your family and friends should not be the only recipients of your gift giving during the winter months. Put your Santa hat back on and deliver a few gifts for the garden this winter and your spring gardening experience will be so much more satisfying.
No comments:
Post a Comment