Preparing Your Garden For Winter: Perennials
When winter hits, it can be tough for the plants in our garden. You’ve spent so long looking after them and the cold winter temperatures threatens to jeopardise all of your hard work. Not on our watch! Here is how to prepare perennials, which to the non-gardening folk are plants which live for two years, for winter…
- During winter, you should make sure to cut back the dry stems of perennials to the level of the soil after any frost has occurred. This will neaten up the garden considerably and help to remove any lingering disease spores. You should leave stems with seed heads however.
- After this, compost any dead plant debris to create what is known as an organic soil conditioner. Make sure to throw any plant material which is questionable in the waste.
- Next, remove any foliage which appears to be diseased from evergreen plants and add that to the trash too. Remember to rake up and throw out the old and disease-bearing mulch as well.
- In addition to this, you should take measures to prevent rodents nesting in your soil. They will do this because it is warm and protective from the cold weather, however it can be harmful to your plants. Prevent rodents by waiting until the ground is frozen and then adding a 6 inch layer of organic material.
Perennials and shrubs should be mulched with chopped leaves or pine needles as these protect the root and soil. For more tips on how to prepare your garden for winter, check back for our next blog post!