Container gardening – how to be ready for winter months.

Container gardening – winter care. I have already told in my previous article about autumn garden care before winter. This is a bit different  to prepare container gardens for winter. Container flower, herb and  vegetable gardens have more advantages and low maintenance than usual gardens including advantage of possibility to move containers. In my other article i have also mentioned how wonderful vegetable garden on your patio can be, and if you have already have one, this article will help you to prepare it for winter months.

Possible dangers in winter. Roots of the plants in containers are no so well protected from the coldest weather in winter. Usually roots are protected by snow and soil everywhere. By when we speak about containers that can decorate your garden paths, paths have no snow enough to warm the roots, and it is just not enough to have some certain size of pots to protect roots from low temperatures in winter. Mulching and wrapping can be a good solution for cold regions of the USA, but ideally plants need to be moved to protected and warmed place.

How can I know if my plants need protection or not?

1.When you buy seeds in a shop, always check if they are suitable for area of your living. Do not bring seeds from warm regions to cold ones and from cold to warm ones. Yes, even seeds that were suitable for north regions can feel themselves worse in south regions.

2. Heated green house is ideal choice for container plants like flowers and herbs. At least you can use advantages of micro climate in your garden.

3. Use the main advantage of containers – move plants to the sunniest area in your garden. Area must be also protected from strong wind and high humidity – this will prevent roots from freezing when it suddenly becomes cold after rainy days.

4. On another hand there should not be direct sun in the place for garden plants. Night freezing and direct sun in the morning can just damage the plants. You should be aware of cold sunny days. If it is warm, sun can not hurt the plants much. Just cover them in freezing sunny days and protect plants from strong winds.

How to protect plants from frost. It is easier than you may think. Just do the right watering during autumn. Do not water plants and trees too much after harvest. More water in the soil – more chance to get it frozen. Water will turn in to ice. This will hurt roots and damage plants. It is easy to control watering in containers, so if you do everything right you may be proud of managing low maintenance garden.

 The most big problem than can happen to your containers during winter is freezing and melting for several times. If soil is frozen once and melted in spring then plants have a chance to grow again next season, but if this happens for several times, and this is normal in some regions, then it is better if you move your containers to some dry, warm place. Before you decide to have organic container garden think if you can move them every autumn or you have somebody who can help you doing that.

Autumn garden maintenance – be ready for winter months.

Garden winter. Is your garden ready for winter? In my previous article about how to take care about the garden in autumn I have already mentioned that it is important to use fertilizer when the weather is not too cold and hot too hot, so it can be as effective as possible. This will help grass to recover after hot summer days and to be ready for cold winter days and next season.

Vegetable garden. If you use your garden for growing vegetables and fruits garden maintenance will be not so low as if you use it only for flowers. Do not forget to remove old plant matter. Always use compost bins, cause if you just through it on the ground there will be much more diseases on plants than this year. So what is next for vegetable garden care?

Garden soil. A lot of gardeners ask if it is a must to use rototiller in autumn. And I say yes. There are two reasons why you should do it. First of all, if you rototill the soil before winter, it will be easier to do it in spring, but the most important reason is pests, if you do not do it, pests will have very comfortable life under it all year round. Many pests will suffer in winter if part of them will be taken upon the ground by rototilling. If the soil in your garden has low pH, apply lime at the same time. It maybe too late to do it in spring. Topsoil can be protected from the rigors by planting a cover crop or by applying a mulch.

Trees and bushes. The easiest tip to winterize trees and prepare them for winter is to water them well in autumn, exactly in fall.

Garden beds must be cleaned as well as topsoil. Always remove old leaves and stalks. Sure you can do it in spring, bu believe me, if you want low maintenance garden, it is better to do it before first snow.

Snow. If you leave in cold areas like northern parts of the USA, your garden care in winter is zero. There is nothing to do with your garden in winter. Do not remove snow from soil and especially around trees. Snow protects roots of fruits trees from freezing in the coldest months. If your next year harvest is important for you do on allow children to play snow in the garden and do not walk above yourself, let your garden sleep well all the winter.