Preparing Perennials For Winter in your Garden
What you need to get your flowerbeds ready for Winter
Perennials
1. Take notes on where your plants
- which plants are struggling and need to be moved, or are being overcrowded
- how they are growing
- if there are any plants that need to be split in the spring
- location of all plants
2. Remove Weeds
- As perennials start to slow down, cold tolerant weeds start to appear
- This helps you in spring to have less weeds that need to be pulled out
3. Water Well
- Keeping the soil moist right up to the time that the soil freezes is a great way to keep the plant roots alive overthe winter
- Try to wet the roots not the leaves or foliage
4.Clean Up Damaged or Diseased foliage
- Cut back to the top of the soil and remove any diseased plant material from the yard
- Leave healthy plants they can help insulate the plant roots over winter and feed birds and animals
5. Mulch Selective plants
- Mulch Newly planted perennials, since they have more tender roots
- Mulch perennials 5 or higher helps keep them warmer on cold days
The best time to mulch perennials is after the top 1-2 inches of soil has frozen. The mulch provides insulation, keeping the soil consistently cool through winter.
Shredded leaves, bark chips, pine needles, and straw, is a good choice for helping perennials survive winter, alsways make sure not to use any plant material that was diseased or shows signs of and diseases.
