5 Easy Tips to Winterize Your Garden

It’s time to winterize your garden for the colder months. Trim the rose bush and prune the perennials so you can be prepped for a bountiful spring!

Getting ready for the winter is about more than making the Christmas present list. In fact, there are things around your yard to do to prepare plants for the cold. From ‘tipping’ the rose bush to planting the bulbs, sowing these seeds now will make life a lot easier in the spring. You just need a few pointers and a little family time to make it happen! Be sure to share your tips to winterize garden plants on your favorite family app.

If you’ve been saving your mound of compost through summer, now’s the time to make use of it! You can use it as a fertilizer to enrich your soil or as mulch for beds and planters. To make your compost effective, add leaves, sawdust, and kitchen scraps to the mix. Share your winterize garden tips on your favorite family app!

Instead of procrastinating until next year, dig into the soil before the frost for easier garden preparations come spring. By adding nutrients now, they’ll have time to break down for soil enrichment. Once you’re done, ensure that you cover it so that it won’t wash away with the weather.

It might sound counterintuitive, but fall is the best time to winterize the garden by planting bulbs! You’ll want to make sure that you do this before the ground freezes so they’ll be ready to flower next spring. Plant your bulbs in holes that are a few inches deep so they’ll get protection from the cold in winter.

They may not do much during the winter months, but that doesn’t mean you want to have leaves and weeds lying around. Clearing them away is an easier task in fall and will ensure your garden is primed for spring planting! You may also want to prune shrubs, cut back perennials, and get rid of dead plants while you’re digging.

There’s a good chance that your garden will get some moisture throughout winter. However, don’t forget about one last drink for your trees, shrubs, and any perennials in the ground. Once you’re done, make sure you winterize your garden hose by emptying it and storing it out of the cold!

If you want to winterize roses, you may want to try the Minnesota tip:

1. Start by pruning your bush down to about three feet and removing the smaller canes.
2. Be sure to remove any leaves and then ties the canes together.
3. Spray each cane with an oil and baking soda solution that will keep it disease-resistant.
4. Once they’re dry, dig a trench beside the plant and tip the plant over the trench. 
5. Top it with soil, then cover it with a blanket and leaves to keep the cold away.

When it comes to your trees and shrubs, cover them with jackets or burlap for much-needed winter protection!

Lawncare in the winter is key to enjoying bountiful green grass in the spring. Whether your grass is cool or warm-season, there are ways to keep it looking good!

Make sure you finish mowing your lawn two weeks prior to the first frost. Because grass will respond to seasonal changes, it’s good to apply fertilizer in the fall. This will help your grass store up nutrients for the winter! If you’re dealing with warm-season grass, however, do not fertilize after September 1st as this may kill off any new growth.

This one simple step can ensure your yard will be thick and lush next summer. 

If you winterize roses and take time for proper lawn care, you can look forward to a glowing garden! All it takes is a little bit of legwork and some fertilizer for plants and perennials you can be proud of.

Do you have any gardening tips for other green thumbs? Share your tips to winterize the lawn on FamilyApp! With the first frost right around the corner, it’s time to pull out the pruning shears for the last time.