Are your flowerbeds ready to rest?

Now that summer has passed and winter is soon to approach, we need to shift our minds from mowing the lawn & weeding to snow removal. Lets make sure that our flowerbeds are ready for this season’s upcoming change with a little preparation to assure beautiful flowers will return next spring. Our shrubs might need some protection also depending where you live. You might choose to give your lawns a little attention also. Either way, this is a great time to give our yard one better look before the snow flies and make sure all is comfy & cozy! I hope to cover a few basics to help get your yard ready for winter Watering; Even though we know summer is over and feel we no longer need to water, we do. A deep watering encourages a strong root system. If a plant does not have enough water taken into its root system before frost, I might not survive the winter. Water all plants sparingly throughout early autumn. This will help plants start with the transition. Once the leaves have dropped from deciduous trees give trees and shrubs a deep watering. Continue to water flowerbeds, trees & shrubs until ground frost will no longer allow water to absorb into the soil. I personally don’t always water this far into the season and still have great result year after year. Use you judgment for your soil type & geographical location. Remove spent flowers and debris; It is recommended to cut down perennials. I do this on some but never flush to the ground. I do like to find my plants in spring so I leave some stems. Leaving stems about 3”-4” tall can also help the plant to collect snow for additional insulation to the root system. Remove all annuals from your flowerbeds. This debris can be placed into your compost pile along with leaves, twigs and so on. If you have a lot to move to the compost pile, try putting it on a trap or old sheet. This allows an easier way to pull all over to the pile. Mulching; Applying in the fall can help insulate your bulbs & plant roots though winter. About 2” of evenly spread mulch should be sufficient to protect your plants. Don’t pile the mulch around the base of plants, this could lead to excessive water accumulation and rot the plant. All my landscaping and flowerbeds have wood chips to help prevent weeds. In fall I simply move some wood chips over the plants root area to protect them. Come spring I carefully slide the chips out of the way to allow the new growth to come up. Containers; Remove flowers from containers & store the pots in a garage, barn or basement so they don’t freeze and crack. If your containers are too large to move or have perennials planted in them you need to protect them from deep freeze. Hay or straw bails around them do a good job but might invite mice. Shrubs; Depending where you live you might need to tuck in your shrubs for winter also. Whether its road salt, ice or snow we need to take some steps to prevent damage. Where I live snow is the issue. We make wooden tee-pees to place over shrubs, this way branches don’t snap and brake under the weight of snow. We have also wrapped shrubs with snow fence or burlap. It works but depending on the size of the shrub you might need to stake them so wind and the weight of the snow doesn’t bend everything over & defeat your purpose. Tee-pees are the least work for us but might not be needed in your location. Lawns; Although the most I do with our lawn is keep it mowed, my husband takes a few steps here. He will generally put down a broad leaf weed killer. He always rakes the leave. I just mow over them many times and let the snow do the rest. We don’t do thatch removal but now would be the time. As a final note, remember remove water from all your water fountains & birdbaths. If you can, tip them over to avoid water accumulation. You should otherwise wrap them up tightly to keep water out. These steps should prevent freezing & cracking Clean all seed bird feeders out. Switch bird feeders to your winter feeders if you have them. Most hummingbird feeders should be down by now, check your local area for guidelines. Even though the days of sitting in the yard or on a deck have come to an end for this season you can still enjoy your yard! ChimesAndBirds.com wants you to enjoy the seasons! Chimes And BirdsFind your unique top-quality decorative and hand tuned wind chimes here! Also a large selection of seed, glass hummingbird feeders & decorative birdhouses.