7 Things You can Do in the Garden this Winter to Practice your Green Thumb
To many people out there, winter is a quiet time in the garden. The majority of plants are dormant, and the weather doesn’t really support outside work. However, that doesn’t mean your enthusiasm for garden work should go dormant as well. There are some tasks you can still do in the garden.
Here are Few Tips to Do in the Garden this Winter:
- Give some love to evergreens – many evergreens, from the smaller ones like box balls, to more established shrubs and trees are vital to the overall structure in the garden year round, and especially in the winter months. You can pick some evergreen shrubs to add to the place, as there are many to choose from. Sarcococca confusa adds great advantage to the place with its scented flowers, and is an all-time favourite.
- Plant some winter flowers – with so many flowers to enjoy in the winter, you will be spoilt for choice. Winter iris, aconites, crocus, snowdrops and hellebores all make a wonderful choice for their looks and their scent. Some plants produce wonderful scented flowers – hamamelis, daphne and viburnum. These are all wonderful seasonal delights, which bring fresh scent and colour to your garden.
- Attract some wildlife – if you are pro-wildlife, then consider the fact that it can really use your help in the winter. Water and food are scarce in supply during this season, so you can do your best to provide it to them. Get a bird feeder in there, or make the place more bee-friendly by adding in more winter flowers and making a pile of leaves or twigs for the bees to shelter beneath.
- Utilise your greenhouse – if you want to stave off your winter blues, then pottering within the greenhouse is a wonderful way to do it. You should tidy up the overwintering pelargoniums, if you have some of these. Try planting a pot of succulents, if you haven’t done it before. They are a great plant to have. In the months of January and February, you can sow seeds by using a heated propagator. Insulating your greenhouse with bubble wrap is a good idea, if temperatures drop significantly.
- Plant your winter containers – if you want to add activity in the garden, plant a few winter containers with evergreens. Plants with berries to add colour also work nicely. Just make sure you position the plants near your house so that they are all within short viewing distance.
- Prune trees, roses, shrubs and bushes – now is the best time to prune your fruit trees, including blackcurrants, pears, apples. There is also need to prune blackcurrants, gooseberries and raspberries. Tackling the roses and other shrubs is an additional task that you should put on your to-do list in the winter.
- If you have a veggie plot, keep it going – there are a few crops that you can harvest in the winter. Parsnips are actually more delicious after a frost. Kale, leeks, winter cabbage and Brussels sprouts all make wonderful additions to your winter diet. If you have not planted any of them, you can try growing pulses indoors. Microgreens make wonderful additions as well, because they can grow in just a few days. Fruit brushes, raspberries, rhubarb and garlic are nice to consider, if you are planning on future feasts.
As you can see, there is a lot you can do in the garden, even in the winter. It is up to you to pick the tasks that you want to include on your to-do list, and work to improve the overall look in the garden.