Top Tips for Winter Proofing your Garden
The colder days and nights have well and truly arrived! And although the garden may be an oasis to most during the summer months, winter gardening can be surprisingly satisfying despite the colder climate. By following these top tips with the help of Ginkgo Gardens, the garden can be turned in to a winter wonderland in preparation for the coming spring season.
Ginkgo Gardens Director Anthony Challis offers his insight. “In order to make the most of the garden for next spring and summer, now is a perfect time to protect your plants and start winter-proofing the garden. Once any sign of frost arrives, this may be too late for some plants so it’s important to be cautious of timings. By choosing the right crops, prepping the soil and providing a bit of shelter for weaker plants, this will allow for your garden to thrive come spring time.”
Top tips to get the garden ready for winter:
- Tidy up the garden by pulling out old plant material and discarding any unsightly weeds. This will help prevent disease developing in plants once the wet weather and snow kick in.
- Mulch helps to maintain the soil temperature and keeps the roots warmer. It also acts as weed growth preventer making it the perfect winter coat for the garden.
- Protect young trees and shrubs from animals and also from the winter elements by using a wire or plastic mesh around the tree trunks and shrubs.
- There are many ways to protect vulnerable plants, and if you don’t have a greenhouse to shelter plants, other options include:
- Using cloches to keep plants warm and dry over the winter period.
- Row covers or garden fabric can be draped directly over garden beds to protect them from insects and disease.
- Cold frames are any four walled structure which trap in heat and shelter the plants as well as allowing in sunlight through the transparent lid.
- Grow tender plants in pots to ensure they can easily be moved inside during bad weather.
- Once the frost arrives, gently brush off any ice or snow which piles up on branches or large trees to prevent them breaking or becoming disfigured.
- Applying fertiliser to the lawn will help promote quick greening in spring.
- A weekly clean up on the garden is essential as this will help the lawn get the sunlight it needs once the fallen leaves have been removed.
- Plant spring-time bulbs before the ground starts to freeze hard, providing enough time that is needed for your spring-time garden to grow!
Ginkgo Gardens are a specialist horticultural business serving the domestic market, property management companies, social housing groups, hotels, schools and business headquarters in London and the South East.
