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Preparing Your Winter Garden: Key Steps and Winter Tasks

Winter duties at Chiswick House, as outlined by head gardener Rosie Fyles, detail necessary winter gardening tasks

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Preparing the Garden for Winter: Tasks and Steps for Winter Gardening
Preparing the Garden for Winter: Tasks and Steps for Winter Gardening

Preparing Your Winter Garden: Key Steps and Winter Tasks

Preparing Your Winter Garden: A Comprehensive Guide

Winter is not just a time for hibernation in the garden. It's a season brimming with opportunities for tidying up, preparing, and even planting. Here are some recommended jobs to help you make the most of your winter garden.

Embrace Winter Box Shrubs

Planting winter box shrubs can bring a sweet scent to your garden during the colder months. Their fragrant blooms will not only add a delightful aroma but also a splash of colour to your winter landscape.

Organise Your Seeds

Take this opportunity to organise your seeds. Make a list of what you have, what you want to use next year, and what new things you may want to order and grow. This will help you plan your garden for the upcoming season.

Wildlife-Friendly Practices

Leave less visible areas under hedges undisturbed until spring. These hidden spots provide shelter for wildlife. Also, consider building a log pile for shelter, warmth, and food for creatures like hedgehogs and birds.

Cleaning and Maintenance

Use a pressure washer to clean paving slabs and remove growth. Sharpen your garden tools for efficient use and prolonged life. Clean and tidy pots, check for damage, and use a flowerpot brush to clean them out.

Providing Nourishment

Provide water for birds and hedgehogs at appropriate heights during winter. Top up bird feeders with seeds and nuts to help wildlife during the colder months.

Assessing Your Garden

Take a good, long look at the winter garden you have created and cast a critical eye over what you see. The garden might look a bit empty or 'shabby', but it's a chance to identify areas that need improvement.

Clearing Debris

Clear away debris such as old supports, mouldy netting, broken pots, and forgotten vegetables. This will help keep your garden tidy and ready for the next season.

Pruning and Planting

Recommended winter gardening jobs include pruning fruit trees, roses, and deciduous shrubs, planting cold-hardy winter vegetables, weeding and mulching to protect bare soil, and performing light lawn maintenance.

Preparing for the Next Season

To prepare the garden for the next season, continue to weed and top up mulch regularly, which conserves moisture and suppresses weeds. Collect and store seeds from annual flowers like sweet peas, cosmos, and aquilegia to sow in spring. Feed flowering plants with liquid fertilizer or seaweed feed to maintain their health into the cooler months.

Adding Life to Your Winter Garden

Plant for both yourself and the birds during winter to attract wildlife and add color to the garden. Consider planting cold-tolerant greens like winter purslane (Claytonia) or mache, which can continue growing throughout winter even in cooler zones.

Maintaining Garden Health

Sow cover crops (green manures) on cleared beds to improve soil fertility and tilth, but avoid areas reserved for garlic or winter-harvest crops. Allow asparagus ferns to grow until a hard frost before cutting them back at spring cleanup.

Enjoying the Winter Sun

Create places to sit outside during winter, as many different spots in the garden capture warm(-ish) winter sun. Leaves on vegetable beds or borders can serve as a natural mulch and add nutrients to the soil.

Pruning Tools

Consider purchasing Niwaki shears, secateurs, and pruning saws for pruning tasks. Use a broom with hard-wearing bristles to remove leaves from paving or decking.

Forcing Bulbs Indoors

Continue to force prepared bulbs, such as hyacinths and daffodil cultivars, every week or so, and grow them indoors to stagger their flowering past Christmas and into January.

By following these steps, you can maintain garden health, improve soil condition, and ensure plants are ready for robust growth when the next growing season begins. Happy gardening!

[1] RHS (2021). Winter gardening jobs. [Online] Available at: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=457 [2] The Spruce (2021). Winter gardening: 15 chores to do now. [Online] Available at: https://www.thespruce.com/winter-gardening-chores-1412057 [3] Gardening Know How (2021). Winter gardening tips: what to do in the garden in winter. [Online] Available at: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/gardening-basics/winter-gardening-tips.htm [4] Garden Myths (2021). Winter gardening: what to do in the garden in winter. [Online] Available at: https://www.gardenmyths.com/winter-gardening/ [5] The Spruce (2021). Winter gardening: 15 chores to do now. [Online] Available at: https://www.thespruce.com/winter-gardening-chores-1412057

  1. Winter box shrubs can bring a sweet scent and splash of color to your winter landscape by blooming during the colder months, adding to the overall appeal of your home-and-garden lifestyle.
  2. As part of maintaining your garden's health, sowing cover crops (green manures) on cleared beds can improve soil fertility and tilth, preparing the ground for the next season's gardening.
  3. To attract wildlife and add color to your winter garden, consider planting cold-tolerant greens like winter purslane (Claytonia) or mache, which can continue growing throughout the winter in cooler zones.
  4. Throughout the winter season, provide water for birds and hedgehogs at appropriate heights and top up bird feeders with seeds and nuts to help them survive the colder months, supporting a healthy lifestyle for local wildlife.

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