By B.E. Conrad
For the avid gardener and landscaper, the winter season can be a long and dreary time. Many gardeners live for the vibrant colors and warm weather of spring and summer, and when fall comes around it can be difficult to cope. Even so, there are important steps gardeners and landscapers can take to help minimize the pain and damage winter can cause.The fall of the year is in fact a great time for gardeners and landscapers to prepare their flowers, trees, shrubs and other plants for the hard winter season ahead, and smart gardeners use the time afforded for just that purpose. Many varieties of plants can be quite vulnerable to the cold chill of winter, so it is important to take the steps to protect them in order to ensure a healthy spring and summer blooming season next year.
One of the most critical elements is simply to know what type of care each of the plants in your garden will need as winter approaches. It is important to carefully look at the various trees, shrubs, bushes, flowers and other plants that make up your landscape and determine the care they will need to prepare them for winter. The feeding, fertilization, watering and care each plant needs will vary, so it is important to gather this information and give each plant what it needs to prepare for winter. Some plants will need to be pruned, while others will need a healthy dose of fertilization to survive the winter. Taking the needs of each plant into account will put you in an excellent position to deal with the coming winter.
Caring for the plants properly in the fall wall also serve to minimize the amount of work that will be needed when the springtime rolls around. Many new gardeners are overwhelmed by the amount of work they have to do to get the garden in shape each spring, but in fact the proper fall preparation can make a huge difference and cut down the workload considerably.
When working with seed stalk plants, for instance, it is important to remove them completely in the fall, in order to cut down on the need for weeding when the spring season arrives. Removing old and spent seed stalk plants will also make room in the garden for new and more attractive plants in the next season.
For plants such as Shasta daisies and goldenrods, it is important to remove any spent flower stalks and cut back any excess growth. This will help to get those plants ready for the next growing season.
Most shrubs, on the other hand, will need little preparation for the winter season. If you have spent shrubs, however, it may be a good idea to remove them now to make room for more attractive replacements in the spring.
While shrubs are generally quite hardy, roses are particularly vulnerable to the harsh effects of winter. If roses are part of the landscape, it is important to take extra care to ensure that they will survive the winter and thrive when the springtime rolls around. It is important to ensure that the roses are not exposed to extreme temperature changes, or too rapid changes in humidity.
When preparing for the winter season, perennials can usually be treated the same way as shrubs, with nature simply being left to take her course. While some perennials will need to be lightly pruned, many will be able to survive the winter season with little need for extra care.
As you prepare all of the plants in your landscape for the coming winter, it is important not to let up on the maintenance you have been performing all summer long. It is important to continue to carefully water the plants in your landscape, as a good watering will help them to gather and retain the nutrition they need to get them through the winter.
The fall of the year is also a good time to plan and implement some of the changes you have wanted to make in your landscape. As the fall arrives, take a good look at your current landscape and look for places where it could be improved. Perhaps a few of those old bushes could be replaced with newer plants. Maybe that bed of perennials could use some pruning and maintenance. And perhaps the whole landscape could benefit from some extra lighting Even if you can’t make all these changes before winter sets in, planning the new spring landscape will help you keep busy as the cold of winter sets in.
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