10 Simple Tips for Preparing Your Garden for Winter

You might not think there’s much to do in a garden as we head towards Winter. But, as regular readers of my garden updates will know, there’s always something for us gardeners to do outside. Whether that’s tidying up or planning for next year, you need to be preparing your garden for Winter now if you want a head start come Spring. No matter how tempting it is to curl up inside where it’s warm…

10 Tips for Preparing Your Garden for Winter

Here are some things for you to be thinking about or, as Monty Don from the BBC’s Gardeners World would say, “Jobs for the weekend.”

Weed Your Garden

Now’s the best time to get rid of all the pernicious weeds in your garden as they should come out of the ground more easily when the soil is wet. Which also means less work in Spring once the growing season gets underway.

Dig them up and throw them out – do NOT compost them, you don’t want any weed seeds or root fragments in your compost pile. You can remove dead vegetables and any other dead plants too, but again, only compost healthy dead matter to prevent the transfer of diseases to the next growing season. That said though…

Make Space for Beneficial Organisms

Don’t be in a hurry to get rid of all the spent blooms, leaves, and foliage in your garden. Many beneficial animals, including birds, hedgehogs, mice, and insects, take refuge in such places to shelter from the cold weather or hibernate over Winter.

Protect Your Soil

One of the easiest methods of preparing your garden for Winter is to use cover crops or mulching to protect the top layer of the garden soil from being swept away during the rainy winter days. Soil protection when the ground freezes is even more important for sloping gardens on hills.

Cover crops and a thick layer of mulch* (at least 5 inches) can significantly help to reduce water erosion, as well as add important organic matter to the soil. The best time of year to plant cover crops is from late August to early September, but you may still be able to find young plants in the sale tables at garden centres now.

Plant Winter Crops

You can extend the gardening season by cultivating a thriving Winter garden. Depending on where you live, there are plenty of native frost-resistant plants that will survive the cold weather. Good crops for your vegetable garden include: garlic, carrots, broad beans, lettuce, carrots, peas, and shallots. Planting them now will give them a good head start and allow them to get their roots down before the first frosts.

Transfer Pots and Containers

If you grow your crops in pots and containers, you’ll know the advantage these have over garden beds and raised beds is that they’re portable. So, move them to warmer, sheltered areas where the plants can continue to grow and thrive.

Raise them up off the ground with bricks and cover them over with plastic bubble wrap if you know a frost is due. Or, keep your most frost-sensitive crops inside a frost-free greenhouse* until Spring.

Collect Seeds

Plants for free! I’m a big fan of collecting seeds at this time of year, it saves me a lot of money and it’s also an easy, fun, and engaging activity for kids. Make sure you only collect seeds from healthy plants though, you don’t want to transfer bacteria and disease-causing organisms onto next year’s plants.

Some of the best plants to collect seeds from now include beans, garlic sets, squashes, tomatoes, and sunflowers. Collect them on a dry day, keep them in a paper bag or envelope, label them, and store them seeds in a cool and dry place until you’re ready to sow them.

Prune Trees and Shrubs

Removing any overgrown branches on trees and shrubs in your garden before you get heavy snow is one of the most important jobs when preparing your garden for Winter. Otherwise, the weight of the snow is very likely to break these branches and cause damage to your plants.

Expand Your Garden

Late Autumn is the best time to prepare new grounds to expand your gardening space. Whether you want to create new garden beds, add compost, add mulch, or plant cover crops, doing it now means you’ll have less work to do when Spring arrives.

Take Care of the Garden Tools

The best time to do this is also at the end of Autumn. You want to wash off all soil and debris, clean all sharp edges, and dry them well. Applying a thin layer of vegetable oil or a quick spray of WD40* on the surface and hinges will prevent rust build-up before you pack them away in a dry place. You can also repair any damage, such as worn handles, and replace worn-out or lost screws before you store them.

Don’t forget to drain any water from your garden hose* to prevent the water from freezing and bursting through the pipes. Lastly, check your garden shed has no leaks or gaps – repair anything that needs attention before Winter arrives.

Conduct a Garden Audit

As auditing your garden should be a continuous process throughout the year, this is one final job that can be done indoors, from the comfort of your armchair at home. Preferably with a warm drink or glass of wine to hand. Conducting a garden audit will help you pinpoint areas of improvement for next year.

Think about how things went this year. What were the challenges? What worked? What didn’t work? Consider companion planting and crop rotation. Decide if you need to move any plants or replace them altogether. Note the weather, the planting season, the watering, and the yields you get from the garden as well.

Winterizing Your Garden

Preparing your garden for Winter all depends on your location, garden size, and of course what you grow. But putting some – or all – of these tips into practice is a good start and should certainly help you look forward to an even more fulfilling gardening season next year. Good luck!

How do you put your garden to bed for Winter? Which tip did you find most useful? Is there anything I should add to this list?

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