Now that the clocks have gone back, evenings are shorter days are colder, gardeners’ minds will be turning to how best to prepare their gardens for winter.
Read on to discover the important things to tackle before winter sets in and what plants will flourish in the frosty weather, and my top tips on how to get your gardens ready and keep them in top condition over winter.
- Start preparing your garden in the autumn. Remove glasshouse shading and check the heating, cut back herbaceous borders but leave structural plants like tall grasses in place. Dig over your vegetable plots prior to winter frosts, as the frosts will help to break down the heavy soils ready for spring seed bed preparation.
- To keep your garden looking vibrant in the winter, plant interest borders with shrubs such as Cornus alba for stem colour, Helleborus for winter flowers and tall grasses for movement in the wind. It’s also the right time for planting plant bulbs, bare root trees, shrubs and roses as soon as they’re available from the nurseries.
- If you’ve got a fruit or vegetable garden, you can pick the last of the late apples and pears in October then look forward to the winter brassica like cabbage, Brussels sprouts and kale. Some root crops improve in flavour if left in the ground until the first frosts, so that’s a good time for parsnips.
- Winter doesn’t mean that work on your garden has to stop – it’s good time for tree surgery for example, as when the leaves drop on deciduous trees the structure can be seen more clearly. You can also prune climbing plants like vines before the sap starts rising in early spring.
- If it’s too cold to go out in the garden, you can prepare for spring by planning and ordering seeds and plant plugs for next year’s bedding projects and service your mowers and garden machinery before the weather warms up.
Paul Tattersdill - Estate Manager