A common misconception amongst homeowners is that once the cold winter period sets in, there isn’t really much to do anymore in your garden in terms of Winter care. I am here to tell you that it isn’t exactly the case. There are plenty of beneficial things you can do for your garden to ensure that it is being set up for success. Especially when Spring time rolls around the corner.
Here are a couple of my most useful tips for winter care:
Winter Care Tip 1: Selecting the right outdoor winter plants
Native plants are the most eco-friendly plants you can use for many reasons. They use less water, require less fertilization and are overall more hardy to the conditions of the local area. This is where they have been thriving for many years. This is something I always promote in my work as it helps the environment. It also makes the home-owners’ lives so much easier in the long run to maintain a thriving garden.
2: Watering
This one is an interesting one as it may seem counter-intuitive to water your plants when some can be dormant. Often, people think that watering will automatically spur on growth and therefore hurt their plants. However, this isn’t actually the case. Plants need a variety of favorable conditions to start growing and water is just one of them. The correct temperature for growth being the largest factor amongst soil condition and others. Moist soil is actually better at regulating heat so this helps protect plants during colder snaps. It also helps overnight in chilly conditions. Please note that watering should be done ideally in the later part of the morning to ensure the water isn’t freezing the roots of the outdoor winter plants.
3: Mulching
This one goes hand in hand with watering and I love mentioning mulch as there are just so many valuable uses for the stuff. Using more mulch around the bases of outdoor winter plants, helps them retain more moisture at the base to regulate heat during temperature dips. Mulch can also serve as a blanket of sorts over the base of the plant which is ideal for protecting the roots of (mostly) younger plants that are closer to the surface.
There is also the option to bring certain plants in for the winter that are not able to withstand colder temperatures. Do keep in mind that constant replanting can cause stress to a plant as well. But this is an option for certain types of tropical plant.
Stay warm!
