Battening down the (garden) hatches for the winter

Here's a list of things you can do this month in your garden:

-Planting spring bulbs.

-Mulch up the base of tender roses to protect them from the freeze/thaw cycle- Use triple mix or clean topsoil. Rose shrubs and climbers should be fine without this.

-Dig in mulch and compost for the spring (so you don't have to do it when it's wet and partially frozen).

-Empty and put away anything that has water in it, such as hoses, and don't forget to turn off the water line in the basement that goes outside.

-Wrap up or put straw on plants that need extra winter protection.

-Plant garlic for the spring.

-Do a final and full weeding to get things ready.




-Overseed your lawn, especially with white clover. It stays green in drought and provides nectar for bees and pollinators.

-Put plastic or metal protectors around the trunks of your fruit trees to keep them from getting nibbled under the snow.

-Junipers, cedars, rhododendrons, yews, holly, and other broad-leaf evergreens might need a bit of burlap wrap to keep them from drying out too much.

-Clean, sharpen and oil down your tools so they're good to go for the spring.

-Clean out plant waste and put it into the compost pile.

-Plant trees or shrubs (but don't wait too late to do this).

-Mow your leaves into your lawn if you have a powered mower (awesome mulch and feeding).

-Otherwise, make a good pile of leaves beside your composter. Now is also a good time to save some for summer composting. Dried leaves make excellent 'brown', or carbon, to offset the wet greens. Plus, it's free.


-Give everything one final, good watering.


And try not to order too many seed catalogues... That stuff is SOOOO tempting in January.