How to Winterize the Garden

The first frost has come, which means a freeze is sure to arrive shortly. Make sure you know how to winterize the garden to make springtime more productive. Don’t just pick the end of the harvest and forget about the beds. We need to “make the beds” now that we are done with them. Do just a little work now and reap the big benefits later.

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Brown Thumb to Homegrown Goodies

Growing up I was notorious for my terrible cooking and my brown thumb. I had to keep a plant alive for a class in highschool, so I immediately ran it home to my mom. She kept it alive and I got an A. It wasn’t a lack of experience. My mom and Mama both have beautiful flowers and bountiful gardens. As a kid I would help them plant, water, and pick. As a teenager, I would tend to the garden when my mom wasn’t home.

Something about doing it all by myself was different though. I started some seeds and they died. The night custodian gave me an aloe plant, which died within three months. We bought a lavender plant to put on the porch. Dead. Despite my track record, my husband agreed to build me a raised bed in the backyard. I was determined to make it work this time around, so I did what any 25 year old would do and got to Pinterest.

I measured out my bed and divided it into squares. Then I drew it out on paper labeling each box with a plant. Because I am a type A person, I also colored each box according to how many plants would go in a square foot. It looked pretty on paper, but I still hadn’t successfully grown anything yet.

My husband and I went to several stores and nurseries to get the exact number and types of plants I needed to make my paper garden come to life. After that it was up to me. I wound up with a bounty. We had more tomatoes and herbs than I knew what to do with. Success!

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Why Winterize the Garden?

During the spring and summer, the plants have absorbed all of the good nutrients and minerals from your soil. So it’s important that you replenish those things for the plants you want to grow next year.

Leaving the soil exposed is never a good plan. It leads to mud and even weeds. By covering it with a thick layer of mulch you are saving yourself time and effort during the next growing season.

How to Winterize the Garden

Remove the plants. This only applies to annual plants. You will obviously leave perennials in the ground. Do not pull the plants out by the roots. Instead chop them down to the height of the soil. I like to use these small garden shears. As the roots decompose they will leave air pockets in the soil. It’s like a hands off method of tilling. Plus the roots will go deeper than a tiller ever would.
Add a layer of compost. This will help to rejuvenate and restore your soil for next year’s plants. If the garden bed is already established an inch should be enough. If you are putting in a new bed for next year, 2-3 inches of compost would be better.
Cover up the soil. Add a layer of mulch to the top. I suggest using at least 2 inches, but as much as 6. This helps to insulate the garden under the snow and trap the moisture. Plus it will break down which will provide some more nutrients to the soil. If you do this instead of tilling each year, eventually you will have fewer weeds. Exposed dirt attracts weeds because nature wants to cover it. Tilling disturbs the seeds and encourages their growth. Personally, I’d rather mulch in the fall than weed in the summer.

Finding Compost and Mulch to Winterize the Garden

If you have a compost pile or a compost tumbler that is ready to go, then go ahead and put that in the garden. If not you can sometimes get mushroom dirt or manure compost delivered by the truckload. If those options are available or are too costly, buy the bags of compost from a big box store.

Mulch can be a variety of things. Wood chips are nice, but take a long time to break down. Tree clippings that have been through the chipper are great because they include all parts of the tree. This provides the soil with rich nutrients as it breaks down. Hay or straw is ok as long as it hasn’t been sprayed with chemicals. It won’t provide as many nutrients to the soil as the wood mulches do though. Cardboard and newspaper can be used as well. As long as the paper isn’t glossy, it can be used as mulch in the garden. Often my mulching method is a combination of all of these. Use whatever is on hand. Nobody said it has to be uniform and pretty. The most important thing is that the soil is covered.