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Preparing Your Garden Fo The Winter

Some people believe that when the weather starts getting colder and theleaves start to fall, it is time to put away the gardening tools and waituntil next spring to work on their garden again. Wrong. Winter is animportant time to maintain your garden's health and assure yourself a goodcrop for next year. You may think that might take to long to prepare yourgarden, but the truth is that it takes less than one day to prepare yourgarden for the upcoming winter.

When the nighttime temperatures drop to less than forty-five degreesFahrenheit for more than four days in a row, or frost is forecasted foryour area (usually around late October or November) you know its time tobegin preparing your garden. You should begin by evaluating your gardendesign, check which plants grew well in the past season, and which plantsdid not do well. Fall is a good time to decide which plants will remain inyou garden next year, and which ones should go.

It is also a good time to decide which new plants you want to grow. Tomake your garden more colorful and healthy, be sure only to plant the morehardy plants during the fall so that they can withstand the winter. Someplants that will do fine being planted in fall are: rudbeckia, AsterNovi-belgii, Anemone Japonica, panicle hyandea, endive, escarole, andBrussels sprouts. You can find all of these and more in gardeningmagazines 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 fallenleaves. Weeds and rotten leaves can carry insects and diseases that mightbe harmful to your garden. You should also rid your garden of spent annualplants, and harvest your vegetables and other plants that cannot withstandthe winter weather. After fall has come and gone, the leaves will be offyour trees and you can see the rotten branches. Trimming off the unwantedbranches from your trees isn't necessary to your gardens health, but mayhelp later on by not dropping branches on your plants and not blocking toomuch of the sun.

If you have younger trees you should consider wrapping them and supportingthem with stakes to help them survive the winter wind and cold. Puttingmulch over your garden for the winter can be a helpful way to protectplants from sudden temperature changes and heavy snow. For mulch you canuse about five inches of shredded bark, pine needles, or a variety ofother materials. You have to be careful not to mulch too early, becausesome insects may still be alive and able to take shelter in it for thewinter.

Once you are finished with your gardening tools you should clean them andmake sure they are in a safe place where they won't rust and you knowwhere they'll be for next year. Before winter comes you should always setout slug repellent, as slugs are one of the worst bugs to have in yourgarden. If you have a pool or fountain in your garden, be sure to take outany fish that you have in them and bring them inside. There's nothingsadder than a fish frozen in a block of ice.

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