Getting the garden ready for Winter can save some work next Spring. The cool, crisp air makes wrapping everything up a lot easier and leaves you more time in the Spring when there’s so much to do.
Here’s what needs to be done:
TOOLS AND GARDEN EQUIPMENT
- Drain and put away hoses, decoration and plant supports.
- Empty and clean any decorative containers you plan to use next year. Use 9 parts water and one part bleach for your cleaning solution.
- Remove rust and mud from tools and decorations that were in the ground.
- Clean and sharpen pruners, shovels and other tools.
- Drain the gas out of power tools, clean blades and oil the metal parts.
GARDEN
- Harvest whatever is left of your fruits and vegetables and pull up all the dead annuals.
- Clean overgrown areas so you don’t have uninvited guests for the Winter.
- Cut back perennials after the first killing frost.
- Prune dead or diseased branches on woody shrubs once the shrub is dormant.
- Make sure any infected items get destroyed and not put in the compost pile.
- Make any planned transplants. It’s a great time while the air is cool and the soil is warm.
- Put fencing around shrubs to protect them from the snow.
- Spray evergreens with an anti-dessicant and wrap with burlap to protect from drying winds.
- Put mounds of mulch around rootstocks of roses.
