Pricey Ms. B,
I will reduce straight to it; Do I reduce, reduce down, or reduce and run? I do not know what to do with my backyard as winter approaches.
—Wintering Wimp
My Pricey Wintering,
By no means worry, you generally is a winter marvel. It’s easy to protect your garden as we hibernate, and (yay!) it makes your spring chore checklist shorter. Right here’s how:
End the job. Annuals and veggies get one shot at rising, so they should begin with a freshly made mattress. After blooms give up and also you’ve harvested your final bites, filter vegetation (roots and all) to enhance the soil. Rule of thumb: Maintain fall flowers until first frost, then swap out for spruce tops.
Prep perennials. When the coolness hits, reduce these again to some inches above soil stage. Clear particles to fight illnesses and pests, and add mulch or leaf compost—a plant’s winter wool sweater. Don’t fertilize, otherwise you’ll encourage progress and render vegetation weak towards the chilly. Depart perennials like coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and decorative grasses to feed birds and add visible curiosity in winter.
Water evergreens and newly planted shrubs. Proceed watering till your floor freezes. That is particularly necessary if fall has been dry. Consider it as a spa therapy in your backyard: Deep soaks will preserve them hydrated.
Plant for spring. You may nonetheless be ingesting pumpkin spice, but it surely’s time to assume forward: Plant bulbs resembling allium, crocus, daffodils, hyacinth, and tulips for a ravishing spring shock! Get the total scoop on bulbs—together with when and tips on how to plant them—here.
Go Inexperienced
Not every little thing needs to be winter white. Add magnificence and purify your air with a brand new indoor plant.
Meet the Twin Cities’ new gardening columnist and your new finest pal, Ms. B. Learn extra of her encouraging suggestions and steerage on all issues digging, planting, and blooming in her column every month in Mpls.St.Paul Journal and here.
