What should your garden wintertime routine be?
Change is the name of the game.
Seasons are shifting and climate change is real – this means we probably need to adapt our winter garden routines to ensure that our plants get the rest and care they need for the spring and summer growing season.
This year, we faced unprecedented heatwaves and dry conditions for the last couple of months of the “summer”, which left many of us in a garden rut. Yes, most of your plants would have at least been in their final growth phase, but instead of being fortified by the late summer rains and sunshine, they have simply been dried out and scorched.
This year, more than ever, your garden needs an extra bit of care before winter comes.
Prune your roses
Give them one last deep water, and then ensure that your winter pruning is vigorous enough. For a full discussion on how and when to prune different rose varieties, look no further than South Africa’s favourite rose experts, Ludwig’s Roses
Love your lawns.
If your lawn suffered from the severe heat, it could benefit from a deep watering, if you have the water to spare. This is where a rainwater tank comes in handy, and its well worth it to soak your lawns one last time before the winter chills start.
Also stop mowing your lawn and fertilise your lawn one last time before the winter cold sets in. Ask the experts at Lawncare Plus for more advice
Fortify your veggie gardens:
If you still have a semblance of a veggie garden after the heatwaves, its time to put it to bed. Get one last harvest into your basket and decide how you want to use your vegetable bed space for the colder months. Rember that bulbs like garlic can stay in the ground overwinter and be ready to go for spring. Some other plants like spinach, broccoli and sprouts can also usually survive, but your softer above ground fruits and vegetables like tomato, zucchini, pepper, and eggplants won’t do so well if the temperature drops. You can either safely insulate and enclose these plants, remembering that they might need more fertilizer during the winter, or you can dig them up and plant again in time for spring growing season. For a full breakdown of winter veggie gardens, we like Almanac.com’s advice and tips
Plan(t) for the future
It sounds strange, but now is the time to plant your spring garden. Bulbs, like daffodils and tulips need a frosty winter nap in the ground to be ready for spring. So while you are cleaning up your winter garden and taking care of your existing plants, why not open up a space and dig in some brightly coloured bulbs for spring?
Tulips, Daffodils and Ranunculi all reward you with amazing blooms as soon as the first spring sun sets out and its well worth digging in a bit now to get those September flowers to look forward to. Each of these have different growing conditions and ways that they want to over-winter, so its best to once again go to the experts on this. Hadeco is a trusted name in South African gardening circles and its worth reading up on bulb best practices.
Don’t let your compost go to waste.
If you have a thriving compost heap, good on you! This is a treasure trove of nutrients for your garden, and you should work on putting it to bed for winter as well. Build your autumn compost heap with enough brown matter, and straw or dried plant material (luckily you probably have an abundance of autumn leaves) and intersperse it with enough living green material and kitchen scraps. Insulate it against the cold if you live in a very cold region of the country, and don’t forget to keep it moist and fed during winter. You’ll be glad for the ready-made plant food come spring and summer planting season! Here are some tips for successful winter composting.
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Just like you have to prepare yourself for winter with a flu shot and a pair of extra fluffy socks, your garden deserves a good last pamper session before you head indoors for the dark moths.
