TGR Staff - 11/01/2024
As temperatures drop, you’re going to see owls, mice, and even squirrels scurry around as they try to find a warm spot they can stay in once winter hits. Now, winters are known for giving a beating to plants, especially if you live in New England (especially NYC), and you’re more than familiar with what every winter throws. But even in more southern cities like Charleston, South Caroline, the winter still gets cold. So, as the last of autumn’s colors fade, winter is knocking on the door, ready to blanket everything in snow and frost.
For many people, seasons are just seasons, nothing more, but for those with small urban gardens, preparing now is key to helping plants make it through the colder months. If you are a gardener or lucky enough to have a little urban garden, you might have an idea of how stressful it can be once the harsh winter comes out.
But here’s the thing: winter prep doesn’t have to be a marathon; your compact city garden can breeze through winter and greet spring ready to grow. It’s really about adopting the right strategies, though. So, before you let your garden settle in for its winter nap, take a little time to cover the essentials. But what exactly? Well, let’s go ahead and dive into the best ways to get your urban garden winter-ready.
Wrapping Up Delicate Plants for the Cold
Got a few tropical or warm-weather plants in your garden? Well, they’ll need some extra TLC to handle winter. When the frost settles, it’s easy for these sensitive plants to freeze, which can damage leaves, but it will usually kill them altogether. So that’s why you’re going to need a frost cloth; it’s also known as a “plant blanket,” but it’s pretty handy since these can lock in warmth on chilly nights.
You just need to drape them over delicate plants and secure the edges with rocks or stakes to keep them cozy. For potted tropicals, it’s smart to move them closer to walls or sheltered spots where they get a little extra protection from the wind if you can; however, bring them inside your home (but that might be a stretch).
Giving the Soil Some Winter Protection
Now, any gardener knows this, but healthy soil is the backbone of any thriving garden, and keeping it in top shape over winter is major when it comes to having a beautiful spring. So, adding a layer of mulch is a simple but powerful way to protect your soil from the cold.
Plus, organic mulches like shredded leaves, compost, or straw not only prevent the soil from freezing too hard but also help it retain moisture. So, if you have trees in your garden or even surrounding your garden, then you’ll definitely want to look into gathering them all up.
But overall, mulching also keeps weeds at bay, which is especially helpful in a small garden where every inch counts. But even in the smallest of gardens, it usually helps to have a wheelbarrow to help you transport mulch to each bed (or pots of plants), and it helps make things spread out more evenly as well. So, if you haven’t already bought one, the same goes for a few bags of mulch if you can’t make your own with organic material.
Prepping Raised Beds to Brave the Snow
If you’re gardening in the city, chances are containers and raised beds are part of your setup. It’s not like that for all urban gardens, but it's usually a big chunk. While sure, these make for great planting options in small spaces; they’re also more vulnerable to freezing since they lack the earth’s natural insulation.
So, one simple way to protect your container plants is by grouping them together against a wall or other sheltered spot to create a mini climate. This keeps the chill off a bit and protects them from harsh winter winds. It might even help to look into some insulation methods such as wrapping the container with burlap if you can, but even some mulch can help (and maybe even a frost cloth too depending on what’s in the bed).
Tidying Up Perennials
Now, small gardens are known for their cluttered look, and yeah, they tend to clutter up pretty quickly. So, if you have some perennials in the garden, it’s time to clean them up since they’re going to be dormant in the winter anyway. Ideally, you’ll just want to cut them down to just above the soil since this actually helps prevent any pests from camping out in your garden (or home in the winter).
It keeps diseases at bay, too, so your plants can come back strong when the warm weather returns. Also, if you have any annuals, be sure to remove them since they can’t survive the winter, and it will give you more space next year to add plants.
Giving Your Garden Tools a Little TLC
After the garden is prepped, don’t forget about those trusty tools that have helped you along the way. Now, this is actually something that so many gardeners don’t even bother doing, but why wait til later to do it, right? So, since they’re not going to be in use for months, it gives you a chance to clean off any dirt and grime that you might have, plus it gives you a chance to oil them and sharpen them up, too. It’s about longevity, and again, a lot of gardeners just flat-out neglect this.
How a Little Prep Goes a Long Way for Urban Gardens
Well, getting a small urban garden winter-ready is all about keeping things simple and strategic. Honestly, there’s quite a bit of work that needs to be done, even for little urban gardens (and the same goes for patches at the front of your house or apartment. But at the end of the day (or season, in this case), it’s about keeping your garden and your pants in the best shape possible once the snow and frost hits them. Besides, you’re a step closer to having a vibrant spring.
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