Crazy Sexy Life

Shawna Lee Coronado

Home gardening: it’s the best way to ensure that you and your family members are receiving the freshest, truly organic, locally grown vegetables. By growing our own foods, we teach children and family members how to connect with nature and live with less chemical exposure.

Take it from a lady who lives in Chicagoland, though: few parts of the gardening cycle are more important than closing one’s garden for the winter. Preparing your garden for next season by closing it up properly will ensure a more attractive community, healthier, well-protected plants, and a less laborious start to your spring garden.

Here are a few tips to help you close up your garden:

Fall is a fantastic time to divide perennials. Utilizing an easy technique such as cutting the plant in half while it is still in the ground will help you wrap up this chore quickly (see video). Be sure to replace any holes with fresh soil, compost, or rotted manure.

Plan your spring bulb garden now as bulbs need to be planted before the first heavy frost in the fall in order to appear next spring. Prepare your soil by working compost or other organic material into your soil. Avoid putting rotted manure on bulb beds, as it significantly heats up the beds and sometimes rots the bulbs. Plant bulbs according to directions, being sure to use organic fertilizer during the planting.

Tender bulbs such as caladium, gladiolus, canna, and dahlia should be lifted before the first frost in cold climates (as soon as the foliage has browned). Store them in a cool, dry place for the winter which maintains a temperature near 60 degrees. In mild climates, leave the bulbs in the ground, but mulch thickly.

Mulch well before the ground freezes hard for any exposed areas of garden. You’ll save water and money by practicing water conservation techniques; by mulching properly, you will have to water less in the spring. If you mulch after the hard freeze, you can sometimes warm up the soil, exposing the existing plants to harsh temperatures. It’s better to mulch before it frosts, so the plants have time to acclimate to the new protection.

Drain garden hoses and rain water barrels, reattaching all gutter connections to drain winter moisture away from the home’s foundation. Storing the rain barrel upside down will prevent additional water from leaking into the barrel, which might cause cracking during harsh freezes.

Empty container gardens and rinse all pots in a vinegar and water solution, scrubbing crustiness with steel wool. If the crust refuses to come off, soak the pot in a bleach solution that is one part bleach to nine parts water for an hour, then rinse again. This will kill fungus and allow you to reuse the pots next year. Air dry the pots, then store them in a dry space. Move all houseplants indoors when outdoor temperatures become lower than fifty degrees for nighttime lows.

Stop deadheading and collect seed from dried flower heads left in the garden. A favorite way to collect the seed is to wait until a flower begins to dry on the stem in the flower bed, put a paper bag over the top of the stem. Cut the stem just below the paper bag, tie with string or rubber-band, and hang upside down in a cool dry place for winter. In the spring, the seeds will all be at the bottom of the bag awaiting planting.

Most perennials can be left standing with no protection beyond additional mulching. In fact, cutting down perennial plants and taking away the garden brush will leave your plants open for more potential winter damage. It is far more conservation-oriented to leave the perennials standing “as is” until next season. The brush provides protection and the plants will drop additional seeds encouraging more plants to grow in early spring – surprise – baby plants will arrive and can be dug up to be given to your friends in the community. Cover special plants, such as roses, which cannot tolerate cold winter winds.

While perennial gardens should generally be left alone, vegetable gardens need a heavy cleaning and are perfect material for the compost bin. Although the composting process slows down in the winter, it is important to continue composting.

In fact, fall is a fantastic time to add leaves and garden brush to your compost bin as well as vegetable garden rubbish. To assist the process, chop and shred the materials to make them smaller before adding to the pile; you can do this with a mulching lawnmower. Many gardeners also plant a “green” cover crop at this time to help return important nutrients back to the soil without the use of chemicals.

Providing your family with a sustainable garden can be the start to a healthier, more thoughtful way of life. Living a green lifestyle begins with fresh air, nature, and plenty of family time. Gardening with attentiveness to water savings, conservation, and non-chemical use can help the overall health of your family and perhaps inspire your community to emulate good habits.

Make a difference this fall, and close-up your garden in a positive way!

Shawna Lee Coronado is an author, newspaper columnist, health, and greening expert focused on teaching and living a green lifestyle. Visit Shawna’s prime website for more information on her books and other media – www.thecasualgardener.com. Be sure to visit her health and greening blog – www.gardeningnude.com for lots more conservation, greening and health tips.

Leave a comment