Winter Garden Care

Published: 24/10/2018

Winter can be a difficult time to embrace gardening. It's cold and wet so nothing seems to stay alive. However, there are some winter gardening tasks which you can carry out to give your garden more life and colour during those bleak winter months. To offer a helping hand with winter gardening below are some fantastic tips from a range of gardening experts and enthusiasts.

1. The Grounds Guys, nation's leading experts in full-service grounds care, say to clear your garden and then fertilise it.

'Cleaning up your lawn is one of the easiest and most important steps of gardening in the winter. Piles of leaves can suffocate a lawn and prevent it from getting sunlight and water. Once trees are done losing their leaves, remove them and any other debris from the lawn. Fertilising is another important step in preparing the yard for winter. Replenish nutrients and prepare the lawn for winter hibernation by fertilising before the ground freezes.'

2. Evan Harris, keen gardener and Co-founder of SD Equity Partners, suggests building a 'Cold Frame' during winter.

'One of the easiest ways to protect your garden in the winter months is to create a Cold Frame around the vegetation that would otherwise die in colder weather. Cold frames are essentially mini greenhouses that trap heat and moisture inside the frame to prevent the soil from freezing. These can easily be made with a bit of wood, some glass or fiberglass sheets, and a few nails. There are also more heavy duty cold frames for harsher climates as well. I love DIY cold frames because you can build them the exact height and depth needed for each section of your garden. In addition, with cold frames you are also able to continue growing and nurturing your garden, even when it snows!'

3. Danielle Mcleod, contributor for gardening blog 'Backyard Boss', discusses mulching and tying stems.

'Provide a 2 inch layer of mulch around woody perennials and roses (pull back in spring). Tie together any stemmy plants in areas of heavy snow to keep from breakage (don't prune until spring in cold weather to minimize winter kill.'

4. Rachel James, author and avid gardener, likes to create a home for insects and animals during winter.

'Make insect homes out of old metal buckets by filling them with old dried raspberry canes and leaving sideways on the ground under hedges and trees. Looks funky and provides a dry home for ladybirds and other bugs in the colder months. Also, collect piles of leaves in a quiet corner and cover it with logs to give hedgehogs somewhere to hibernate in safety from predators.'

5. Doug Hopeman, CEO and decorator at Artificial Plants and Trees, suggests adding more artificial plants and trees to your garden for some colour during winter.

'Remove plants that will die in the cold and replace them with artificial trees and arrangements. This evergreen tip will keep your garden looking green throughout the winter months.'

6. Justin Rush, owner of The Ground Guys, discusses replacing summer annuals for winter annuals.

'As soil temperatures drop and summer annuals begin to die off, remove them from your garden and consider replacing them with winter annuals, such as pansies. That will replace the summer color with flowers that will survive the winter and provide color during winter months and spring months before it's time to install new summer annuals.'

7. Tom Brown from Shiply.com, enthusiastic gardener with experience in winter gardening, highlighted the importance of keeping your potted plants warm and secure.

'During the winter months, it is important to keep any potted plants warm so that they don’t freeze over. You can do this by grouping pots together or wrapping them in bubble wrap, so any heat is kept insulated. Grouping pots will also protect them from getting blown over in high winds or storms.'

8. Finally, our piece of advice is to make sure to store away any garden furniture which could become ruined in the winter weather.

Rather than keeping your furniture out to become covered in snow and rain making it more susceptible to damages, store away your furniture at the beginning of winter. Garden Sheds are an ideal place to store your garden furniture. In that way they can remain dry and undamaged ready to be used next summer. Head over to the Tiger Sheds website to view our full range of garden sheds and log cabins here.