As the fall rolls in and prepares us all for winter, gardens across the country are in a state of flux. Flowers are dropping off plants, and leaves are falling from the trees on our streets and in our yards. This is a time of profound change in nature, and it’s always reflected in the color, the smell, and the lifecycle stage of your plants. Waving goodbye to your summer garden, this is a moment to prune and adapt your garden for the winter months and this complete gardener’s guide will show you how.
Leaf Litter
If your garden is overlooked by one or more trees that will lose their leaves, you’re soon to have the problem of leaf litter on your hands. While it’s pretty for a month or so, the brown, ochre and orange leaves of fall will soon grow damp and rot on your lawn, which is a less pleasant phenomenon. If you have large beds in your garden, it’s recommended you use a leaf blower to push leaves off your lawn and into the shrubbery. Here, it’ll contribute to soil richness. If you don’t have beds to blow your leaves into, collect them weekly and put them in a small compost bin for the following summer.
Tree and Shrub Pruning
After a long and hot summer, your trees and shrubs will have taken their chance to expand and grow into your garden, finding new ways to get the sun on their leaves. It’s one of the pleasures of gardening to watch this expansion, but when it comes to the winter, it’s time to cut back this growth to tidy your garden and keep trees and shrubs healthy. You’ll see from this post by Farming Hobby on worx chainsaw review that some of the best chainsaws for pruning are small, single-hand devices — perfect for your yearly prune.
Planters
What should you plant in the fall and for the winter? Well, you’re not likely to see much flowering in the winter months for obvious reasons: there’s less sun, and there are less insects to pollinate between plants. But you can grow a number of winter vegetables, which grow remarkably quickly in the cool of the winter. You might consider planting onions, cabbages, and root vegetables in your garden in order to pick yourself some warming winter food in time for Christmas.
Drainage
One issue that many hundreds of gardens experience each and every time the weather gets sorry in the winter is flooding. Whether minor or major, the presence of standing water in your garden is unpleasant and avoidable if you put the work in to improve the drainage of your garden. Look up tips on drainage to get your soil turned and your groundwater pushing into the water table instead of sitting on top of clay and mud in your garden. This allows you to create an outdoor space that you can enjoy in the dry all year round.
These are the four top gardening tips for ambitious green-fingered citizens up and down the country as the summer draws to a close once and for all.