Howto Do Things You Want To Do

As the weather turns colder and much of your garden shuts down, there are some chores that can be carried out over this quieter gardening time.

1. Ensure all your spring bulbs are in the ground before it freezes over. You should have most of them in the ground by November.
2. There may be some plants that require late winter pruning, so ensure this is carried out. For fruit trees this is imperative if you are to encourage a good crop in the warmer months.
3. After pruning you can carry out insect-control on dormant trees and shrubs. Applying insect-repellant oil at this time of year will suffocate the insect eggs, killing off the problem before it hatches.
4. Collect dead material from plants (make sure it’s not diseased) and put on your compost. Cut off dead branches and other plant material and add to the pile for recycling. Keep the compost covered during winter to hold the nutrients in. Remember to turn your compost periodically throughout winter.
5. Keep watering until the ground freezes, especially evergreens. Once it starts to freeze over, disconnect your water hoses to eliminate the problem of burst water hoses and faucets.
6. Try and keep snow piles away from evergreens. Carefully brush it off the bough of the tree but don’t shake branches as they may snap.
7. Cover your roses with rose cones but if there is a sudden warm spell during winter, to stop heat from building up around your roses, you will need to ventilate the cone.
8. Bring all clay pots in out of the weather after you have cleaned them. The cold can cause them to crack.
9. If you have a garden that attracts birds, don’t forget them over winter. Keep you birdfeeders full.
10. When shoveling snow, try not to dump any salted snow on your plants.
11. Clean, sharpen and store your gardening tools over winter. Carry out any maintenance on electric and gas tools as required.
12. Store any wooden furniture over winter. Keeping your wooden garden furniture out of the rain and snow will ensure its longevity.
13. Get your Christmas lights up before the weather turns nasty.
14. If you have a living Christmas tree, get the hole dug before the ground freezes over.
15. Make sure your seed orders are in before the end of January.
16. Plant trees and shrubs in late winter.
17. Keep firewood outside, to ensure you don’t bring any unwanted insects into the house.

We hope you enjoyed this fifth and final episode dealing with Sucessful Gardening All Year Long, and that it provided you with ideas you hadn’t thought of for your year-round gardening.

For much more information about Successful Gardening All Year, please visit our site at:

http://gardening.howto-you.com , where you will find an additional email list of ideas, as well as our book ‘Guide to Successfull Gardening All Year’

Thanx for being here!  See you in our next episode!