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With the ground still covered in snow in many places, it’s easy to think that there’s nothing to do in the garden in winter. But there’s actually a lot of important winter gardening tasks that you can do right now to set yourself up for a successful spring growing season. From winter pruning to planting seeds, here’s how to prepare your indoor and outdoor gardens for spring.
1. Prune Dormant Trees and Shrubs
Late winter is the best time to prune most trees and shrubs, including most evergreens, fruit trees, and late-flowering plants like rose of Sharon and crape myrtle. Pruning in cold weather reduces the spread of plant diseases and helps plants heal faster. However, it’s important to not winter-prune spring-blooming plants that flower on old wood, like lilacs and forsythia.
2. Plant Seeds
Growing your own plants from seed is a great way to save money in your garden. But if you want your homegrown plants to be ready in time for spring, you’ll likely need to start at least some of your seeds indoors in winter or winter sow cold-hardy seeds outside in milk jug greenhouses. Depending on where you live, you may be able to plant winter-hardy vegetables directly in your winter garden, too.
3. Start Fertilizing Houseplants
Providing the right winter care for houseplants is key if you want your plants to survive until spring. During winter, indoor plants generally require less water and fertilizer, and they may need a grow light and humidifier to combat low light levels and dry indoor air. But when your plants start producing new leaves in late winter to early spring, it’s a sign that your plants are waking up for the season and you can increase watering and start fertilizing again.
4. Clean Garden Tools
Ideally, garden tools should be cleaned and sterilized before they’re put away for the winter. But if you haven’t cleaned your garden tools already, cleaning, polishing, and sharpening your tools in winter will ensure your tools are ready to go when spring arrives. To start, soak your tools in soapy water to remove grime or in a vinegar mixture to get rid of rust, scrub any leftover rust away with steel wool, dry your tools thoroughly with an old cloth, and then wipe them down with mineral oil until they shine.
5. Prepare Birdhouses
Most wild birds start building nests in birdhouses and other cozy garden corners in early to mid-spring. To prepare for the spring nesting season, take the time to remove old, empty bird nests and clean birdhouses out with a stiff brush and a gentle soap or a 5 percent bleach solution. When you’re done, give your birdhouses a thorough rinse with fresh water and remember to wear gloves and a mask while you’re cleaning.
6. Order Bare Root Plants
Gardeners usually order vegetable and flower seeds in winter. But winter is also a good time to order bare root plants, like strawberries and fruit trees, as well as soil amendments and other must-have garden supplies. If your garden is looking a bit drab, you may also want to order some winter interest plants, like chokecherries, wintergreen, dusty miller, and highbush cranberry, to add more color to next year’s garden.
7. Address Winter Damage
Weatherproofing your garden in autumn should help you avoid a lot of winter damage. But even with careful mulching, staking, and other weatherproofing practices, trees, shrubs, and other plants can still be damaged during windstorms and heavy snowfall. If you notice any broken limbs or branches, remove them as soon as you can with pruners or a saw to keep problems from spreading. Consider calling in a local tree expert if larger limbs need removing.
