How To Prepare Your Garden For The Winter :

Some people believe t when the weather starts getting colder and the leaves start to fall, it is time to put away the gardening tools and wait until next spring to work on their garden again. Wrong. Wir is an important time to maintain your garden's health and assure yourself a good crop next year. You may think t might take to long to prepare your garden, but the truth is t it takes less n one day to prepare your garden the upcoming wir.

When the nighttime temperatures drop to less n ty-five degrees Fahrenheit more n four days in a row, or frost is ecasted your area (usually around late October or November) you know its time to begin preparing your garden. You should begin by evaluating your garden design, check which grew well in the past season, and which did not do well. Fall is a good time to decide which will remain in you garden next year, and which ones should go.

It is also a good time to decide which new you want to grow. To make your garden more colorful and healthy, be sure only to nt the more hardy during the fall so t they can withstand the wir. Some t will do fine being d in fall are: rudbeckia, Aster Novi-belgii, Anemone Japonica, panicle hyandea, endive, escarole, and Brussels sprouts. You can find all of these and more in gardening magazines or your local nursery.

After you have finished this you should begin cleaning up your garden. Begin by pulling out weeds t may have cropped up, and raking fallen leaves. Weeds and rotten leaves can carry insects and diseases t might be harmful to your garden. You should also rid your garden of spent annual , and harvest your vegetables and other t cannot withstand the wir weather. After fall has come and gone, the leaves will be off your trees and you can see the rotten branches. Trimming off the unwad branches from your trees isn't necessary to your gardens health, but may help later on by not dropping branches on your and not blocking too much of the sun.

If you have younger trees you should consider wrapping them and supporting them with stakes to help them survive the wir wind and cold. Putting mulch over your garden the wir can be a helpful way to protect from sudden temperature changes and heavy snow. For mulch you can use about five inches of shredded bark, pine needles, or a variety of other materials. You have to be careful not to mulch too early, because some insects may still be alive and able to take shelter in it the wir.

Once you are finished with your gardening tools you should clean them and make sure they are in a safe ce where they won't rust and you know where they'll be next year. Bee wir comes you should always set out slug repellent, as slugs are one of the worst bugs to have in your garden. If you have a pool or fountain in your garden, be sure to take out any fish t you have in them and bring them inside. There's nothing sadder n a fish frozen in a block of ice.