Putting your garden to bed for the winter is a great way to ensure your soil will not have diseases or insects from the winter spells next season. Here are a few easy tips and tricks to winterize your garden.
Cleanup:
Remove past season’s rotting or unripened goodies, and stock up your compost pile with them. Completely remove all vines, roots, bulbs, etc. The reason is that insects and pests will feed on these plants during the season and can lay eggs causing hatchlings in your garden once the freeze is thawed.
This step also includes cleaning out the beds from any weeds or unwanted plants. Do NOT add these to the composting pile.
(Photo Credit: Linden Land Group)
Give your beds some love:
Add your remaining compost from the season to the cleaned up beds, as much as 3-4 inches. The nutrients from this compost will soak into the depths of the beds through the winter months, and will be full of nutrients when you turn the beds soil in the spring.
(Photo Credit: Homegrown)
You can also cover the beds with mulch, such as straw or chopped leaves to keep the ground from completely freezing. Especially if it’s going to be a cold long winter!
Still have vegetables in the garden?
There are plenty of crops that can be harvested and continue to grow during the light frosts like lettuce, spinach, beets, parsnips, artichokes, broccoli, & onions. Cover them with a blanket of straw or chopped leaves to keep the season going, this provides them shelter and keeps them warm.
Commentary by Trissta Hepting, WCG Outreach Intern.
