Putting Your Perennial Garden To Bed For Winter

Winter is coming. Before the snow covers the ground and it hardens into concrete, prepare your perennial garden for winter and put the plants to bed. With a little help from you, they’ll be ready to sprout up again in the spring.

Start With Cutting and Pruning

Your perennials come back up come spring, but they need to be ready for winter. As the temperatures get colder, they’ll naturally die back. Once the frost slams them, it’s time to cut them back. Don’t do it before the frost because you don’t want new growth.
It’s especially important to cut back any plants that were hit with disease or insect infestation. Don’t leave the diseased debris. Throw it away. You can compost any good clippings to use as fertilizer or you can leave some behind for the wintering birds, but keep the diseased and insect eaten clippings far away.

Cleanup the Garden Area

Your garden should be ready to go for spring, so do a little winter cleaning. If there were any annuals in the garden, pull them out. They’re not coming back. If you have anything on the ground such as leaves, flowers, etc., pick them up so they don’t attract animals or seed. You don’t want an oak tree sprouting in the spring.
It’s not just the garden that needs cleaning. Your gardening tools and equipment should be cleaned and stored for the winter. This keeps them from rusting. The same goes for cages, stakes, etc. Everything should be stored to keep them safe from winter exposure.

Spring Will Be There Before You Know It

Now that your area is clean, it’s time to prep it for spring. The soil hasn’t frozen yet, so till it to bring up any insects that burrowed in for the winter. They’ll make a delicious meal for wintering birds.
Take out any weeds that are lurking and put them into your compost pile. With no weeds, it’s ready for a mulch covering. It keeps weeds from germinating in the spring and adds nutrients to the soil.
Don’t let your garden go to waste come winter. Get it ready and you’ll have the perfect beginning come the thaw. Ekana Nursery and Landscaping has everything you need, so contact us today.