Tips to Winterize Your Yard and Garden

The money you spend on your yard and garden can be quite a significant investment, not to mention your time and effort if you do it yourself. As the growing season winds down, there is more to do than simple leaf clean-up if you want to protect your yard and garden from the ravages of winter weather.

Your lawn may need attention. A late fall feeding can promote healthy growth, strengthening the grass to survive the winter. Fall is a good time to reseed areas that need it. Be sure to mulch a newly seeded area to keep birds from having easy access to the seeds, and be sure that new grass receives plenty of water.

Since many insects and plant disease organisms winter-over in the soil and in infected plant debris, it is always a good idea to rake around perennials and dispose of plant trimmings and dead plant material after a good killing frost. If I haven't had much problem with insects or disease, I like to put these final rakings into a separate compost pile and use them to start a new pile the following spring. This way they will be used in a fresh compost pile when there will be lots of heat generated rather than just sitting in a cold pile over the winter. Any diseased material gets burned.

Replace mulch around your perennials after a killing frost and after you have trimmed and raked. Cover the remaining plant base with a few inches of loose organic mulch. Never use anything that will prevent water from seeping into the ground, including large, unshredded leaves that may pack into layers and create a barrier. You also want to be sure that air circulation can take place to avoid root rot.

Roses may require special care. The use of those Styrofoam "rose cones" to cover and protect your roses can actually do more harm than good in many areas of the country. Cones can act as little greenhouses, causing the rose to begin growing too early in the spring; the too early growth often gets frozen which can retard or even kill the rose. Rose cones also do not allow air circulation.

• Trim your rose canes back to about 18-24" tall.
• Rake away the trimmings and plant debris, leaving a clean surface around your rose.
• I like to use well dried grass clippings (never green!) or straw, and wrap the rose loosely with this material; tie it in place carefully with loose loops of soft cord or fabric strips.
• Cover the bush loosely with burlap, and tie it loosely in place.

Since roses grow best in full sun in open air circulation during the summer, this type of setting can also make them susceptible to the whipping winter winds. I find that this method of wrapping provides a great deal of protection to roses and any other tender perennials.

Ceramic pots and containers that may fill with water and freeze should be moved into a protected area.

• Empty any potting soil into the compost pile and scrub out the containers with warm soapy water before storing, being sure to dry them thoroughly in the sun. Moisture that seeps into tiny cracks in the glaze or into unglazed clay pots will freeze and cause the pot to split and crumble.
• Move other ornaments and decorative items to safe storage before winter weather arrives.
• As soon as hummingbirds have completed their migration, clean and store the feeders.
• Now is the time to set up your bird feeders for the winter, and put in a supply of seed. Store your seed in a large canister or sealed tub to keep mice out.
• Cover garden furniture, or move it into storage.

Water gardens and garden ponds need some special winterizing. Your water garden was created as a small ecosystem, which you can sustain through the winter. Follow Mother Nature's rules, and you shouldn't have any problems. Trim your water plants and clean out leaves and debris with a fine mesh net, removing the sludge that has accumulated on the bottom. This is going to stir up the water, which makes it a very good time to change half of it. While you're draining half of the water, clean any shelves and scummy areas. Follow your dechlorinating routine when you refill the pond. Remember to adjust the food type and feeding schedule for your fish, since their metabolism will be shifting into low gear as soon as the water cools.

Be sure to turn off the water supply to outside faucets and spigots. If you have a sprinkler system or a garden irrigation system, these should also be drained.

Sources: Personal experience.