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Essential Tips for Maintaining Your Garden During the Winter
Winter might seem like a quiet time for the garden, but it's one of the best seasons for getting a head start on your planting and preparing your outdoor space for the upcoming spring. Read on to discover our Head Gardener, Suzie's top tips.
Time to Plant Your Trees and Soft Fruits
Winter is the best time to plant trees and soft fruits because it is bare root season. Bare-rooted plants are lifted from the ground while they’re dormant so that when you plant them in your garden, they’ve got plenty of time to settle in before bursting into life in the spring. They are also easier to care for, much cheaper than the potted versions and use fewer resources to grow and transport them.
Dead Head your Perennials
If your perennials have finished flowering, you can cut back the old foliage and dead flower stems to the ground. This can help prevent storm damage, fungal infections and pests. The plant’s crown will remain dormant and grow again next year. However, if you have perennials with attractive-looking seed heads, consider leaving them to provide winter interest and a valuable food source for garden wildlife.
Frost-Proof your delicate plants
If frost is forecast, protecting any tender plants in your garden is essential. If you can’t wrap them in bubble wrap or horticultural fleece, consider using a cloche to shield them from the cold. You can even make your own cloches using empty plastic bottles for a quick and cheap solution.
Support the Local Wildlife
Now is the ideal time to give a helping hand to the animals that make up your garden’s ecosystem. Hang up bird feeders and build a bug hotel. Even leaving a pile of fallen branches and leaves in a corner of your garden will provide a habitat for overwintering insects and small mammals.
Start a Compost Heap
When garden waste collections end, starting a compost heap is a great opportunity. Composting is a fantastic way to recycle your garden waste and things like cardboard, fruit and vegetable scraps, and more. The resulting rich compost can do wonders for your garden next season.
Prune Your Fruit Trees
While fruit trees are dormant from November to March, it’s the right time to prune them. Using sharp, clean tools, remove the three Ds – dead, diseased or damaged wood – then prune out branches crossing and pressing against each other. This helps your tree focus its energy on healthy growth come spring.
