Preparing your garden for winter

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As the weather begins to cool off here in Florida, we need to start preparing our gardens and yards for winter. For newcomers to Florida, yes, we do get frost and temperatures in the low 30’s, which are called a hard freeze. 

October and early November are the best times to start preparations. We must be ready before the first frost. According to the “Farmer’s Almanac,” north-central Florida is going to have a wet, cold winter this year, with the coldest weather predicted for early January and February.

Depending on the size of your garden and how much work you want to take on, there are several tasks you can do in the fall that will ensure happier plants, better blooms, and healthy vegetables come spring. The following is a list of tasks to help keep you on track and organized, so you can get through as much as possible.

1. Weed – Fall is the perfect time to weed. The plants are starting to die off so you can find those weeds that were hiding under them. If you water your gardens a few hours before you start weeding, this will make it easier to pull the weeds out.

2. Cleanup your gardens – Once the weeding is done, check for any old plant markers, temporary trellises, plant supports or tools that may have been left behind after a day working in your garden. Rake up the old bed and get rid of any plant material, weeds, and roots. Pull out any dead plants and check for diseased ones or any infested with bugs. It is very important that you do not put these in your compost bin. These plants should be placed in a commercial yard waste bin or burned.

3. Prepare your soil – If your plants, flowers or vegetables did not do well this past season, you should have your soil tested. New gardeners to Florida should have the soil tested so you know what you are working with. You can do this yourself by purchasing a home soil testing kit. Once you get the results and make the recommended corrections, cultivate the soil. This can be done by using a tiller, a garden fork or a garden claw. This will break up any clay in your soil, mix in corrective chemicals, as well as add air to the soil to aerate it. This will make it easier for your spring plant roots to grow and spread.

4. Add mulch and/or compost – Tender perennials will need extra protection during the winter. Add 2 to 3 inches of compost or mulch to your beds any time before the ground freezes. Leaves, pine needles, grass clippings not treated with chemicals and any other organic materials are best. Do not use family pet feces. You want to add compost to the mulch so the soil can soak up the nutrients over the winter. This is also a good time to fertilize your garden. You can use a slow-release fertilizer, but it is best to use an organic fertilizer. Some organic fertilizers would be potato skins, banana skins, eggshells, coffee grounds and any other scraps from the kitchen except meat products. These organic fertilizers can be placed right in the soil without composting. If you buy fertilizer at your local store or nursery, read the packaging—you don’t want to fertilize to promote general growth. That will promote new tender growth that will get zapped with the first cold snap. Use fertilizers to promote root growth. Keep watering your gardens (unless we get a lot of rain) because the plants need some moisture for those few days when we get high temperatures during the winter. Keep this up until we get a hard freeze.

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5. Preparing your vegetable garden – If you plant winter vegetables, it is important to get this done before you plant your perennials and annuals. Clean out all dead plants and check for diseased plants. As with flowers, do not put these in our compost bin. Throw them away or burn them. This will prevent recurring diseases from breaking out. If you don’t remove these plants, they will lie in the ground and contaminate the winter vegetables causing a blight to form. Clean out the beds like you do for your flower beds.

6. Bulbs – Tender perennials and tropical plants will be killed off by freezing temperatures. After the plants are killed off, dig up the bulbs and clean them up. Pull off the plants and put the non-diseased plants in the compost bin. Tender plants and tropical bulbs can be dug up and started in their dormant stages. Bulbs in containers can be brought in still in their pots—simply cut off the foliage and move the pots to a dark place.

7. Wintering plants indoors – There are many plants that can be taken inside and grown as house plants. Some plants are cold hardy and can be brought into the garage or shed over the winter. Bring tender plants inside the house; make sure you clean off and debug the pots before bringing them in.

8. Help your garden helpers – Keep bird feeders filled. Birds appreciate fatty, high-energy food (such as suet) during the cold weather. Establish a feeding routine, offer water, and clean feeders and bird baths.

9. General maintenance

• Empty all your outdoor containers upside down.

• Hang a basket in your tool shed or garage; use it to store hose nozzles and sprinkler attachments.

• Clean all your garden tools, dry them, and protect them with oil to prevent them from rusting. Place them in the shed or garage.

• Rake up leaves so they don’t lie on the grass and get sodden.

• Rake leaves into small piles and run the mower over them to make mulch to put in your gardens.

• Cover your compost bin with a black plastic bag.

• Drain the fuel out of your lawn mower and/or any other power equipment.

• Check your yard to make sure there is nothing left outside.

I hope these tips will help your garden survive the winter and produce happier plants, healthy vegetables and better blooms in the spring.

And please visit the Marion County Public Library Headquarters at 2720 E Silver Springs Blvd. to see the Pioneer Garden Club’s two fine examples of fall floral arrangements.