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Follow these winter-month tips for a healthy, beautiful landscape come spring.
Gardening is not just a spring, summer and fall affair. Think winter when projects performed in nippy months result in multiple horticultural benefits and outdoor beautification year round.
But there are some no-no’s for winterizing your garden. Do not — repeat, DO NOT — pour antifreeze into bird baths and fish ponds to prevent water from freezing. It sounds silly (not to mention deadly to birds and fish), but it’s done all the time, according to one gardening cognoscenti.
However, Barry Fugatt, director of horticulture for the Tulsa Garden Center, says there is a lot to be done that doesn’t include deep-sixing your avian and piscine friends.
“Gardening is a year-long project,” Fugatt says.
Here are some of his suggestions:
Improve garden soil. It takes a lot of energy for the digging in, but it’s a great way to shed holiday-indulging pounds! Adding compost is good, but Fugatt’s newest suggestion, particularly in clay-heavy soil, is incorporating expanded shale. The natural additive dramatically improves drainage, and that means healthier plants, more flowers and veggies, and a lot less root rot. It’s particularly useful in raised beds and, because of its lightness, roof-top gardens. There are special soil mixtures that include expanded shale, which are ideal for container gardening.
Let it rot. Create a compost pile that’s pleasing to look at. A top suggestion is a stone enclosure, but treated timber also provides good results. Nicely put together, a compost pile is an aesthetic addition to the garden.
Go fishin’. Get a start on spring by designing and doing the hardscaping for a water garden for your landscape. The easiest and least-expensive route is to dig the pond in the shape of your liking and top it with a plastic liner and rocks on the sides for stability and architectural interest. Fish (koi or common goldfish) and aquatic plants can wait until the weather warms up. Adding the fish is the fun part, and your winter toil gets the hard work out of the way.
Add an arbor. Any upright structure provides vertical interest, particularly as an entryway to a garden. Purchase a kit or design and build your own. Web sites provide plenty of ideas. Again, building the basics now means there will be plenty of time this spring and summer for adding the crowning glories, such as climbing roses, clematis and even morning glories. And don’t forget the vegetable garden. An arbor is a great and attractive way to support plants such as tomatoes and green beans — even okra.
Tool triage. There’s nothing more annoying come the start of spring gardening season than a lawn mower that won’t mow or clippers that won’t clip. Clean, sharpen and oil your garden gadgets now. And take inventory. If you didn’t use a tool last gardening season, you probably won’t come the new year. Have a lawn service? Why keep that cranky, old machine that’s cluttering up the garage? Out with it! Reward yourself with new replacements, but remember that an investment in a $25 pair of clippers will, in the long run, outlast the $6 cheapy.
Dig it. Instead of becoming a couch potato after calorie-laden holiday meals, consider a family project of planting a tree, such as a maple, oak or dogwood. As long as the ground isn’t frozen hard, it’s a great time of year to add to your landscape. Fugatt says the activity is particularly meaningful if the tree is planted in memory of a departed loved one. Each year the tree will become more special.
