Preparing Your Garden fo the Winter

Some people believe that 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. Winter is an


important time to maintain your garden's health and assure yourself a good


crop for next year. You may think that might take to long to prepare your


garden, but the truth is that it takes less than one day to prepare your


garden for the upcoming winter.





When the nighttime temperatures drop to less than forty-five degrees


Fahrenheit for more than four days in a row, or frost is forecasted for


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 plants grew well in the past season, and which plants


did not do well. Fall is a good time to decide which plants will remain in


you garden next year, and which ones should go.





It is also a good time to decide which new plants you want to grow. To


make your garden more colorful and healthy, be sure only to plant the more


hardy plants during the fall so that they can withstand the winter. Some


plants that will do fine being planted 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 that may have cropped up, and raking fallen


leaves. Weeds and rotten leaves can carry insects and diseases that might


be harmful to your garden. You should also rid your garden of spent annual


plants, and harvest your vegetables and other plants that cannot withstand


the winter weather. After fall has come and gone, the leaves will be off


your trees and you can see the rotten branches. Trimming off the unwanted


branches from your trees isn't necessary to your gardens health, but may


help later on by not dropping branches on your plants 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 winter wind and cold. Putting


mulch over your garden for the winter can be a helpful way to protect


plants 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 for the


winter.





Once you are finished with your gardening tools you should clean them and


make sure they are in a safe place where they won't rust and you know


where they'll be for next year. Before winter 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 that you have in them and bring them inside. There’s nothing


sadder than a fish frozen in a block of ice.

Dealing with Garden Pests

While tending to my own garden, I have found that one of the most


frustrating things that can happen to a gardener is to walk outside to


check on your plants. It’s just a routine walk to make sure that your


garden is thriving, but you end up finding holes in all of your plants


that looked fine only hours before. The explanations for some of these


plant-destroying holes are garden pests. Some of the main garden pests are


slugs, worms, caterpillars, birds, snails, and the occasional gopher.


Although you can never wipe out these pests entirely, after all your hard


work in the garden you have to do something.





Insects are one of the worst things to have in your garden; they can live


under the soil, in old weeds or piles of leaves, or in a number of other


places. In order to help keep insects away, always try and eliminate


places in your garden and near your garden that these insects and other


plant diseases could be living. Remove old leaves, weeds, or any other


decaying matter that insects and diseases could be living in from your


yard. Also, regularly turn over your garden soil and break apart any


clumps of dirt so that you can eliminate the living spaces any insects


that might be hiding underground.





Another way to rid your garden of the pests is to use dormant spray, which


is used to keep destructive insects and diseases under control. It is best


that you use dormant spray when your plants are dormant, usually around


February or early March. I have used dormant spray many times on my garden


and it has worked wonders on keeping insects out. But as I learned from


experience, dormant spray is only effective if you follow the correct


instructions. When I first decided to use some on my garden, I just dumped


it everywhere in hopes of killing everything harmful. Unfortunately I


ended up killing my entire garden along with my neighbors. Some insects


can be beneficial to your garden though, so be sure to find out which


insects help your garden.





Another pest problem I've had besides insects has been birds. Whenever I


see birds in my garden I run outside a chase them away, but as soon as I


step inside they come right back. The solution that I've come up with to


keep the birds away from my garden is to put a bird feeder in my yard.


Instead of costing me time and money by eating my garden, the birds eat at


the bird feeder. In the long run it’ll save you money. Not only can a bird


feeder help keep birds away from your garden, but they can also be a new


part of your yard decoration. Although not completely eliminating my bird


problem, my bird feeder has made the problem smaller. Getting a dog has


also helped.





If you start seeing mounds of dirt around your yard, and your plants keep


unexplainably dieing, you can assume that you have a gopher problem.


Thankfully, this is one of the few garden pasts that I haven't had.


However my friend has struggled with a tremendous gopher infestation, so I


decided to research it. Gophers are rodents that are five to fourteen


inches long. Their fur can be black, light brown, or white, and they have


small tails. One method of getting rid of these root-eating pests is to


set traps. The key to successfully capturing a gopher using a trap is to


successfully locate the gopher's tunnels and set the trap correctly.


Another way to get rid of them is to use smoke bombs, which you place into


the tunnel and the smoke spreads through out it and hopefully reaches the


gopher.





If you suspect that your gardens are being pillaged by any of the pests I


mentioned, I encourage you to try your hardest to eliminate the problem as


soon as possible. The longer you let the species stay, the more


established it will become.

Creating Microclimates to Facilitate Growth

Many gardeners live in areas where almost anything can grow effortlessly.
Just plant the seeds and water it for a few weeks, and you’ve got a
beautifully lush plant. But if you live in somewhere like Colorado, you’llunderstand what its like to have a slim selection of plants that naturally



grow. It can be quite a challenge to facilitate the growth of a large



variety of plants, especially when the very world you live in seems to be



rooting against you.







Some people solve this problem by loading up their plants with every type



of chemical and fertilizer known to man. This usually works, but to me it



seems kind of unnatural to rely on man made materials to keep your plants



alive. Also, if I’m growing fruits or vegetables, I don’t feel very



comfortable eating something that is entirely composed of chemicals.







A gardening theory that I have relied on in the past to grow many types of



plants is that of creating a “microclimate” for each type of plant. This



is when you regulate the sunlight, shade, moisture, and wind factors for



each separate plant. It sounds like a challenge, and it is. But you can



regulate these factors in such a way that the plant feels just like it is



in the ideal growing conditions. This can be achieved by the use of wind



barriers, shading umbrellas, extra water, or different types or amounts of



compost.







If you’re ready to make an attempt at creating microclimates, you’ll need



to make a detailed plan in advanced. You should start by finding a large



shade providing bush or tree that will grow fast and naturally in your



area. Just look at some undeveloped plots of land and see what is there.



Most likely it grew on its own without any planting or care. This is what



you want to happen. Usually the growing of one plant can bring about the



growing of another more desirable plant.







If you have a fence in your backyard (you would be surprised at how many



people don’t) then you already have a good amount of shade to work with.



You can start the microclimate process using just the shade of the fence,



combined with (perhaps) a screen or large bush to shade your new plant for



the other half of the day that the fence doesn’t take care of. The fence



is also useful for shading against wind for very fragile plants.







Once you have established the shade, be it natural or unnatural, you have



created a slightly less harsh miniature environment. You must remember



this is a gradual process, and find a new plant to put in the shade of the



other one. Now your choices are a little more open. You don’t have to go



with a rugged plant like the one you did before; you can now choose a



plant that survives in cooler weather.







If the plant you are trying to grow next requires more moisture in the air



than your area provides, installing a fountain or small pond can fix this



problem due to the evaporation. You may think you don’t want to waste



water on a pond or fountain, but it’s all going toward the betterment of



your garden. It’s just like the watering process, only indirect. As an



added benefit, usually fountains are quite aesthetically attractive and a



great addition to your garden.







I can’t explain every stage of the process, because everyone’s goals and



setups are slightly different. But to reach your goal, you should do



research on every plant that you would like to have in your garden. Find



out everything you can about the zone that it flourishes in, and ask



yourself how you can emulate that zone within your own backyard. Almost



always you can take control of the environment and recreate whatever you



wish. Usually all it takes is some planning and strategy.