This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
Autumn is coming, the cold is almost upon us: what to do then to close the garden for the winter season? Here are 20 easy tips to get you there!
At the beginning of autumn
1. Bring in any cold-sensitive plants that you want to keep, such as houseplants, annuals (especially geraniums and fuchsias) and certain herbs. It is better to do it before the nights cool down.
2. Pick cold-sensitive vegetables, such as tomatoes and peppers, as soon as the nights get cool.
3. If you have a pond, install a net over the top to prevent it from filling with dead leaves. Empty the net of its contents before winter.
Before the first frost
4. Plant hardy bulbs (tulips, narcissus, etc.).
5. Divide or transplant spring-flowering perennials, such as peonies, if their condition warrants it.
6. Pick up fallen leaves from the lawn and paths. You can mulch them with the mower to make mulch or add to compost.
After the first severe frost
7. Wait until the first frost before harvesting hardy vegetables, such as cabbage and leeks, as a touch of frost improves their taste.
8. Prune fall-flowering shrubs (panicle hydrangea, Annabelle hydrangea, etc.) now or early in the spring.
9. Bring in summer bulbs, such as gladioli and dahlias. Dry them in a shed, then place them in a cool, dry place, but protected from frost during the winter.
10. Pull and compost the foliage of vegetables and annuals, then clean the garden of litter and weeds.
11. Mix compost into the vegetable patch and existing flower beds in preparation for next season.
12. Install new raised beds now to ensure you’ll be ready for spring.
13. Some gardeners like to remove and compost the foliage of their perennials; others leave it in place to enrich the soil.
Before the first snow
14. Install winter protection (burlap, geotextile, rose cones, etc.) on fragile plants, such as hybrid tea roses and blue hydrangeas.
15. To protect cedars from drying out, keep watering them until the ground is frozen.
16. To protect columnar conifers from the weight of snow, it may be useful to plant a stake behind them and secure them discreetly with a cord.
17. Place anti-rodent spirals around the trunks of young trees to protect them from voles (field mice) which like to gnaw their bark under the snow.
18. To prevent bursting, place the garden hose in a frost-free environment.
19. Clean the gutter of any debris.
20. Clean, sharpen and oil tool blades — including the mower blade — before storing them for the winter. Or, have your mower serviced by a specialist.
And take advantage of the winter season to get inspired and think about what you will put in your next landscaping, flower beds or vegetable gardens!
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, relating to marketing. The drafting of To have to did not take part.