
Winter Ready
Keep it Covered
Planting a cover crop not only allows you to continue to enjoy gardening through the winter, but it can also be helpful in maintaining beneficial organisms, bacteria, and creatures like earthworms to keep your soil in fine form and prevent the loss of nutrients. Leaving your soil completely bare will starve these helpful occupants and inhibit the success of next year’s crop.
Plants like field peas and beans do more than simply cover the soil, adding powerful soil-nurturing benefits, including a significant source of nitrogen and roughage for soil structure. Add about ½”-1” of manure or compost to your soil to encourage plants to germinate early in the fall, and watch them as they grow. You want to cut back your peas and beans before they flower to get the most benefits from your cover crop.
There are also several plants that do well and even provide a harvest during winter. Depending on your climate, many of the following will be successful during the winter months:
- Spinach
- Lettuces
- Arugula
- Asian Greens
- Chard
- Kale
- Mâche
- Parsley
- Carrots
- Turnips
- Leeks
- Radish
Winter gardening can be very rewarding, with very little need for weeding or watering. Add compost when planting your winter garden, and feel free to continue to augment your compost on warm, wet days throughout the winter to help boost your plants and your soil.
Divide and Conquer
Fall is the ideal time to prune perennials and divide bulbs. Prune herbs and vegetables like fennel, rosemary, thyme, asparagus and rhubarb, and trim shrubs and blackberry canes to help control spread and prevent crossing canes. Raspberry canes should be left standing, as they continue to nourish the crown of the plant into winter.
If you dug up bulbs earlier in the season, this is the time to replant them. If you have bulbs that are still in the soil, dig up the bulbs, separate them and spread them evenly throughout your garden for lush, vigorous results the following spring.
Remove and Refresh
Now is the time to remove old, spent mulch and compost and renew them for winter. Your summer compost is likely spent and ready to be removed. You can use leftover compost to fertilize lawns and landscaped beds and jump start spring growth.
Adding mulch for the winter season protects the soil from erosion and helps prevent weeds from taking hold the following spring. Mulch also helps the soil stay warm and transition into the colder months, protecting the roots of your garden plants and shrubs. The mulch adds fresh organic material to your soil as it breaks down over the winter, super charging beds and landscaping for the coming spring.
A little planning and care now can not only keep your garden neat and tidy through the winter, but can significantly boost your results in the coming year!