Winter is often viewed as a down time in the garden, a time to rest and regroup after a busy growing season. However, nature doesn’t stand still because it is cold outside, and in the crisp stillness things are still changing out there. If you are willing to embrace the cold, there are plenty of things you can be doing in your garden over the winter months. Some are gentle activities that make you feel good and others will make you work up a sweat and lighten the load in the busyness of the new spring season.
#1 Prune
The most obvious task is to prune dormant deciduous trees. This is generally done to maintain shape and size, improve productivity or reduce the risk of disease. The key points to remember are to make sure your tools are clean and sharp. Start by removing diseased, damaged, and dying branches, then take out branches that are crossing over or rubbing together. Then prune for size and shape. Try not to take more than 20 – 25% of the tree to ensure the plant can recover easily. Stand back and check your work often to see if the pruning is balanced and aesthetically pleasing. It is important to take safety seriously and wear gloves and googles, checking that ladders are secured and treating power tools with respect. Once done, gather and remove all the trimmings for good plant hygiene.
#2 Mulch
Mulch is a beneficial layer to add to the soil surface of your garden. Locking in moisture and keeping weeds down, it really comes into its own in the summer months. In the winter, it can provide insulation from the cold and prevent soil and nutrients from being washed away in heavy rains. If you choose the right mulch, it is also a source of organic material for the beneficial micro communities to drawn into the soil to improve soil structure and provide bio-available nutrients for plants to use. Because of this, it is constantly being depleted and needs to be topped up regularly. Adding a winter layer now, while the soil is wet from winter rain and many plants are reduced to a dormant state, makes it easier to apply, preparing the garden for an easier growing season.
#3 Plant bare root trees and shrubs
Autumn is often suggested as the best time to plant trees as the lingering warmth gives the plants enough time to settle in before the chill of winter slows growth down. However, you can continue to plant throughout the winter months with bare root trees and shrubs. The plants are in a dormant state so won’t even notice the change of environment until the weather warms up, allowing them to slowly acclimatise and establish without transplant shock. Always plant within a week of purchase, soak in a bucket of water for up to 4 hours before planting and don’t plant into frozen or soggy ground.
#4 Love your soil
Soil is a hard-working environment that is constantly changing under the demands of the plants and micro-communities that live in it and take from it as they grow and thrive. Winter is a great time to top up nutrients used during the growing season. Compost, well-rotted manures and other amendments can either be turned into the soil or left on the top to allow natural processes to draw them into the structure, there is plenty of time. At the end of the day, if you have plants in the garden or you are harvesting, pruning, and taking vegetation away from the garden, you need to give something back.
#5 Edit the garden
Plants grow and sometimes can become larger than the vision you have for the garden. Winter is a great time to review the photos you took of the garden over the summer months and examine the ‘bones’ of the garden as it stands in its winter finery. Now is the time to decide whether to divide perennials, move shrubs, or add a new hardy plant. The garden is at its most receptive to these kinds of dramatic structural changes.
#6 Observe challenges
Winter weather can keep us indoors to stay dry and warm. However, even in these less than desirable conditions, it is worth stepping out into the garden to see what is happening. Notice the water movement in heavy rain. Is there adequate drainage or does it cut through a garden bed or pool in the lawn? How frost behaves is also worth observing. Where does it linger longest? This isn’t a place to put your first tender seedlings in the spring. A lot can be learnt by observing the garden.
#7 Maintenance
While the needs of the garden aren’t as pressing as in the height of the growing season, it is the perfect time to look at maintenance. Gather your tools together and give them a clean. Sharpen those with a cutting edge, apply linseed oil to wooden handles, and lubricate moving parts. Examine the supports you rely on to keep your plants upright to see if they are still fit for purpose. Take care of any maintenance required for structures and fences. A mild, sunny winters day is a great time for a lick of paint.
#8 Feed the birds
Set up a bird feeding station in your garden to support the wildlife over the cool season and give yourself something to watch out of your window. Understand what kind of food your local birds actually want, keep the feeder out of reach of cats and predators, and clean it often to avoid spreading diseases around your feathery friends.
#9 Plan and prepare
In the cosy warmth of the indoors, make plans for the next season in your garden. Learn about the plants you are growing so you can provide them the best environment to thrive. Design a new space on grid paper with pencils. Scour the internet for inspiration. Read books and magazines. Wrap up warm and visit your favourite public gardens to examine its bones and structure to understand how to replicate something similar in your garden.
#10 Entertain
Just because it isn’t warm doesn't mean you can’t entertain in your garden. Set up a fire pit or patio heater and add cosy blankets to your entertaining area and serve heartwarming stews and soups instead of salads and sausages. Make the most of the garden you have and enjoy winter in all of its glory.
