Spring and winter are busy months in the garden. You’ll be busy with all the winter garden chores you need to do. But you also have to remember all the planting that you’ll need to do come spring. You can have an indoor winter garden or an outdoor one but today is all about outdoor winter garden ideas.
This may seem like a lot, but your winter garden planning doesn’t have to be a struggle. We have many winter gardening ideas to get your garden in order during these cold months.
Tips On Planning A Winter Garden
There is no need to settle for bare garden beds once the colder months and cold temperatures kick in. You can still enjoy a plethora of softly scented flowers, evergreens, and berries, even if it’s icy cold outside. You could bring your garden inside for indoor winter gardening, or you can prepare your outdoor garden.
There are also many winter garden vegetables, fresh produce, and non tender plants that do quite well in the cold weather such, as this plant list:
and many more.
Today, we’ll be talking about four simple things you need to remember for a sparkling and enchanting winter garden and how to make a winter garden successful. Let’s get started!
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Plan Early
Preparing for the winter garden of your dreams starts with a little bit of pre-planning. Start planning early. If you live in the northern hemisphere, start your preparations in mid-July.
If you’re in the south, starting your early winter gardening and your winter garden plan in early August is a good idea. This will give you a head start and enough time to get everything ready before the first frost hits, if you get frost.
In addition, by knowing when the first frost will hit your area, you can time your plants, cool weather crops, and cool season vegetables perfectly.
Apart from timing, you also need to do some prep work in your garden. This includes re-working the soil before planting your new plants and hardy winter crops, adding your compost pile to replenish the soil’s nutrients, and having moist soil while ensuring that your garden patch and the garden bed have good drainage.
Choose the Right Plants
One of the first things you need to do for your winter garden plans is to choose what to plant. Unlike the bright and juicy colors that summer and early spring plants provide, winter plants offer your garden and vegetable garden a sparkling appeal. to add a lush elegance to your garden and make excellent winter garden plants. You can grow evergreen plants like:
- winter daphne
- frozen flame
- ink holly
- Japanese falls cypress
- Deodar cedar
- arborvitae
Meanwhile, you can plant cold weather or winter flowers for these cooler months. Many great plant varieties add a pop of color to your winter garden or during the cold season. Such as:
The winter months and freezing temperatures are a great time to grow fruiting plants and berries such as:
With their bright colors of gold, orange, red, pink, and purple, these are a great way to make your winter garden pop this time of the year. As for specific crops like winter edibles and cold weather crops, plant leafy greens and Asian greens like:
These are excellent options for hardy vegetables. You can also plant other winter vegetables like root crops that you can harvest throughout the season. like:
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Prepare a Layout and Protect Winter Plants
Before planting anything, it’s essential to ensure that you have enough space in your garden for your winter garden layout and to accommodate all the specific plants you’ll be growing. Prepare a layout to allocate enough space for your crops in your winter garden plan.
The placement of your garden is also important. Planting near a windbreak such as a wall can protect your plants from the harsh cold winds that come with the cold season.
Alternatively, you can also use a cloche to help retain warmth for your plants. It can insulate your plants, lengthen your growing season, and prevent your winter crops from dying during cold spells or when the cold weather hits.
Practice Proper Winter Garden Care
Caring for your garden in this harsher cool season can be a little different than in the spring and summer. But just the same, your plants need enough water, sunlight, and nutrients to grow happy and healthy.
When it comes to watering plants during the cold winter garden weather, less is more. Water plants only when the first inch of the soil is dry.
If the area you live in tends to be overcast during this time, you may need to install a grow light to prevent wilting and to ensure that your crops can sustain their photosynthesis.
Finally, be careful with fertilizers. Plants tend to absorb fewer nutrients in this growing season. If you’ve added compost and organic matter beforehand, you might not need to fertilize your garden.
Do you have other winter garden tips you would add for making a winter garden plan? Please feel free to share in the comments below, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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