Autumn has come, and it is time to take care of your garden. You may think that preparing your plants for the winter is easy, but the truth is if you want to have beautiful flowers in the spring you need to put some effort now. To help you organise the last stage of the annual gardening we have gathered a checklist with all the things you need to do before the first snow hits the ground.
Clean Your Garden
One of the first things you need to do is clean your garden from dead or rotting plants. Why bother, you may ask, in winter the snow will hide everything? Well precisely because the fallen snow will create the perfect conditions for incubating different fungi and pests. During the late summer and autumn, various insects lay they eggs on soon-to-be-dead plants. In winter the larvae will start to eat the rotting plant and in spring you will have serious problems. You need to remove the plants in question and clean the soil around the healthy, living greenery. While you are at it get rid of all of the invasive weeds that are trying to rule over your garden. Make sure to dig up their roots too. Removing completely the weeds is the only way you will ensure that your garden will stay clean during the next growing season.
Your Garden’s Soil Needs Your Attention
Usually, the time for fertilising your soil is in the spring however you need to remember that during the cold months your plants need nourishing to survive. Great solutions are the DIY eco-friendly fertilisers like egg sheld, compost or manure. Do it in mid-autumn so all of the nutrients have time to dissolve into the soil and enrich it before the ground freezes in winter. This will give your plants a much-needed boost and will ensure their survival. Once you’ve added the amendments, cover your flower beds with a sheet of plastic to prevent the rains from washing the nutrients from the soil. This is especially important if you have raised flower beds, as they drain more readily.
Plant the Protectors
Cover crops are a must when you are preparing your garden for the winter. Plants such as vetch or clover can prevent soil erosion and add additional nutrients to the soil. Cover crops can increase the soil organic matter levels and can hold water longer into the soil. The basic rule is that cover crops must be planted at least a month before the first frost. If you have a vegetable garden you need to consult your local gardening specialist what are the best crops to plant.
Time to Plant Some Flowers
If you want to have the most colourful and amazing flower garden that even the gardening enthusiasts from Bournemouth will envy you for, you need to plant some bulbs a.s.a.p.Autumn is the perfect time to plant daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses and tulips. When the ground is finally cooled down and the temperatures are around 10°C grab your bulbs and start planting. You can put them anywhere you want with the sole condition that the soil drains well. If the bulbs receive too much water, they will rot and your dreams of a beautiful spring garden will disappear.
Prepare Your Shrubs and Trees for the Winter
Shrubs and trees also need a moment of your time. Clean the soil around and under them from the foliage. Clean the branches from dead leaves and damages stems. Be careful, do not cut or prune any of your plants before the winter. This will prevent or slow their dormancy and may cause the death of that plant. The rules about fertilisers are valid here as well, the more amendments there is in the soil, the healthier your plant will be. Depending on the area, you live, you may need to protect your trees and shrubs from the local wildlife. Consider putting additional fences and wrapping in protective cover the trunks of the fruit trees.
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