Winterizing Tips for Your Lawn and Garden

Winterizing Tips for Your Lawn and Garden

Your outdoor plants have worked hard for you all summer, making your garden a place you are proud to call home. Properly winterizing your lawn and garden is an important step toward healthy soil, lush lawns, and happy plants next year. Remember to take care of your outdoor accessories, including your gardening equipment, garden tools, and all your lawn and garden decorations. A little time this fall will make your gardening and landscaping endeavors easier and more enjoyable next spring!

Let's start with the easy jobs: Remember to store all your lawn and garden décor first, including flimsy flower pots, observation balls, and deck furniture. Unglazed terra cotta pots that are left filled with soil outside often break apart in freezing temperatures, so they are best cleaned and placed in a storage area where they are protected from the elements.

Fall is the time to find your bird feeders and start stocking your winter food pantry. Soon, his many feathered friends will flock to his feeders in search of that nutritious morsel. Remember to keep your feeders full during the winter, as birds need reliable food sources during the winter months.

cleaning up the garden

Now that you've done the easy chores, let's move on to the more mundane winterizing chores. Start by simply cleaning up the garden. After the first hard frost, remove the annuals of the year and dead vegetation. You can add this material to your compost pile, but be sure not to add material from diseased or pest infested plants. You'll want to uproot perennial weeds before mulching your garden for the winter.

planting the spring-blooming bulbs. Crocuses, tulips, and daffodils are a beautiful addition to the early spring landscape.

In the yard is the main job of raking the leaves. These are great either in the compost pile or as a direct mulch in the garden. However, perennial flowers can be drowned out by a thick layer of mulch.

Winter damage protection

After the ground freezes, you can cover your perennials and newly planted trees. Certain shrubs will need to be wrapped in burlap to protect them from wind damage, sunburn, and other winter injuries.

Moving on to the mechanical tasks of winterizing your lawn and garden: While you can try procrastinating on these jobs until spring, you will be well rewarded for the maintenance you do this fall. Drain the gas from your lawn mower and string trimmer. Actually, it's best to let your trimmers and trimmers just run out of fuel. If you don't want to "waste" that little fuel, add a gas conditioner before the long winter. Be sure to follow the instructions. Also, take the same care of your garden equipment, such as your rotary cultivator.

change the oil

Clean all your garden equipment before storing it away for the long, cold winter. Wash with soap and water, clean the air filter and change the oil. You'll find that first lawn mowing job in the spring a little easier if you take the time to sharpen your blades now. You can protect that freshly sharpened blade by applying a little cooking spray to the blades. You can also apply light spray oil to other moving parts like cables and throttle controls.

Lastly, drain all the water from the garden hoses and turn off the taps. Make sure you store your insecticides, herbicides, and fertilizers in a secure storage area that won't freeze. Make sure these materials are kept away from children and pets!