A man conducting winter garden maintenance on his lawn in Ontario

Blog Post

12 Garden Maintenance Tips: How Do I Prepare My Garden for Winter in Canada?

A man conducting winter garden maintenance on his lawn in Ontario

Blog Post

12 Garden Maintenance Tips: How Do I Prepare My Garden for Winter in Canada?

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If you are thinking about putting a full stop to garden maintenance before and during winter, it is too early for that.

To give your garden a head start in the upcoming year, you need to do a few things in winter. 

During this time, you get an opportunity to nourish the soil and support the growth of plants.

Today, we will discuss the steps you require to add to your garden maintenance checklist.

So, you will get an answer to your popular question, "How do I prepare my garden for winter in Canada?". 

Learn More: Winter Lawn Care: 12 Essential Tips to Protect Your Grass

How Do I Prepare My Garden for Winter in Canada: 12 Garden Maintenance Tips

An infographic listing the steps of how do I prepare my garden for winter in Canada

Without delay, let's dive straight into the steps you need for garden maintenance:

1. Enhance Your Soil

You may not have heard of this before, but winter is a great time to concentrate on enhancing the composition and quality of your soil. 

First thing first, you need to add compost to your soil for nourishment, drainage, and water retention.

To keep the compost pile at the ideal temperature, keep the diameter at least three feet in your lawn.

Secondly, heavy tilling can break the natural structure by releasing precious carbon. So, when it comes to raking and tilling, it is better to let the soil rest as it is.

This may promote the growth of microorganisms and earthworms, which enhance soil health. 

By improving soil stability, these organisms increase the soil's resistance to erosion and moisture retention. 

In addition to protecting the soil, winter weeds provide cover and food for many species. 

Winter weeds like Hairy Bittercress and Dandelions improve drainage by penetrating the soil with long, thin taproots. So, pulling weeds is not always the best strategy for garden maintenance.

Winter weeds differ from summer weeds, which are usually big, aggressive plants that take over. 

In early spring garden maintenance, you can remove any winter weeds and put them in your compost pile to prevent them from reseeding.

2. Add Layers of Mulch to the Lawn 

In winter, mulching plants helps protect them from sudden freezing and thawing, which can cause bulbs and shallow-rooted plants to heave out of the ground, causing breakage.

Mulching is your best option for delicate plants if your winters are cold and nightly lows below 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Additionally, mulching your plants can help them stay active throughout the winter rather than dormant if your area's weather rarely drops below freezing. 

A nighttime frost may harm these active plants when they decide to sprout new growth. Consequently, the damaged tissues invite multiple bacterial and fungal diseases.

Regardless of the season, you should ideally mulch your plants at night. 

The mulching options for garden maintenance are various organic materials, including chopped corn cobs, bark, pine needles, and straw.

If you want to learn how to prevent frost heave in Canada, here is a guide.

3. Use the Right Fertilizer For Winter Garden Maintenance 

Using fallen leaves is a natural technique to enrich your soil with organic matter and nutrients. 

They decay slowly, enriching the soil as they do so, much like a slow-release fertilizer. 

Throughout the winter, this organic layer promotes beneficial microbial activity and aids in moisture retention.

In late October, you should start preparing your grass for winter. Applying winter fertilizer is best done before the ground freezes.

When applying winter lawn fertilizer, timing is important for maximum benefits. Water-soluble nitrogen with a rapid release is present in the best winter fertilizer. 

This garden maintenance tip guarantees the fertilizer's effectiveness, adequate absorption, and prevention of groundwater contamination.

Because many lawn owners make mistakes while applying fertilizer, here are the ones you should avoid at all costs:

  • Applying fertilizer for winter grass too soon or too late.

  • Over-fertilizing grass using winter fertilizer.

  • Overuse of winter fertilizer.

4. Clean Your Gardening Equipment

Cleaning your gardening tools should be done all year round, which is important for garden maintenance.

This garden maintenance step will help eliminate potentially disease-ridden dirt, prevent rust from forming, reduce sap buildup, and keep the equipment in good shape.

5. Protect the Plants

You should keep the sensitive plants inside during extremely cold winters in Canada. This garden maintenance tip can save you from planting new seeds every season.

To keep the plant from falling into shock, leave the covers on until the ground thaws and take them off on a cloudy day.

Containers are essential for winter planting. Sturdy containers that can tolerate temperature changes are perfect, particularly for outside plants.

Here are the ways to store plants:

Metal and Ceramic pots: Offer protection from abrupt temperature changes.

Plastic pots: Ideal for bringing plants inside or into protected areas.

Stands for pots: Using stands to raise pots keeps them off of chilly ground surfaces, which can cause the soil and roots to freeze. Additionally, this promotes improved air circulation. In this way, you won't have to deal with the stubborn mold.

Self-watering pots: These are especially helpful in the winter when less frequent watering is required. Such pots keep the soil consistently moist without becoming overly saturated.

In addition to mulching, give less delicate plants a fighting chance in winter by wrapping them in burlap if you can't bring them inside. 

Burlap keeps your plants from suffocating because it is breathable, sufficiently thick, and durable to withstand the hard winter cold. 

Once the temperature has dropped to around five degrees Celsius but before the ground freezes, it's crucial to remember to wrap your plants regularly. 

6. Take Out or Trim Back Plants

Remove any wasted vegetables and annual flowers or clip them off at ground level to allow the roots to break down in the soil. 

Also, trim back herbaceous perennials. You can leave some of the ornamental plants to provide your winter garden visual interest because of their sturdy stems and seed heads. 

You should also leave perennials such as Russian sage and lavender that produce the growth buds for the following year on woody stems.

7. Water the Plants Carefully

Winter watering requirements are very different. Hence, your garden maintenance steps should address the watering issues.

Since plants grow more slowly and evaporate less water, overwatering is a common problem.

Before rewatering, let the top inch of soil dry out. Check drainage and water outdoor plants only when the soil is dry to prevent waterlogging.

An efficient way to water plants sparingly without oversaturating the soil is with a sprayer pump. 

It is useful for sensitive plants that require misting rather than intensive watering.

8. Prepare a Raised Bed for Winter

Raised beds are common in many gardens and have been popular for years for food or ornamental purposes. Using it is a great garden maintenance tip for winter.

Winter is when the garden needs to be cared for and ready for the next year. And around the same time, last-minute harvesting takes place. 

Since some plants grow slowly over the winter, putting seeds during this cold season is convenient to guarantee that spring veggies will be ripe sooner. 

If the plants are resilient enough, they can be left in the raised bed throughout the winter. 

In the raised bed, various perennials weather the winter without harm. Additionally, many herbs can be overwintering in the raised bed, and some can even be harvested in the winter. 

Herbs that keep their leaves throughout the winter, such as rosemary, thyme, and sage, will be amazing options. 

Harvesting shouldn't be too strict because nothing grows back during the winter season. Harvesting leaves separately is another garden maintenance tip that you should remember.

That is because chopping off entire stalks would allow germs, and the plant may die from freeze damage.

If you can't decide which are the best plants for your lawn in winter, visit this blog.

9. Stay Away from the Frozen Lawn

Although frosty lawns provide a lovely morning sight, you should avoid stepping on them. 

Frozen grass is brittle and will take time to heal. When the grass gets colder than the surrounding air, frost forms.

Damage to the blades may result from walking on frozen grass. It may take until spring for the frozen blades to regenerate normally after breaking and turning brown. 

For garden maintenance, wait until the sun melts the frost if you have to mow in the winter. 

10. Put up a Drainage System

Another garden maintenance tip for winter in Canada is to install a drainage system if you don't already have one. 

You should anticipate that the issues will only worsen throughout the winter if you notice a damp lawn in the fall. 

A rain barrel, dry river bed, French drain, or another method will let the standing water flow away from your foundation and grass instead of collecting. 

If there are sinking places and slopes, you can try to make these regions even. Soil additives can help with drainage problems in soil with a lot of clay.

11. Use Salt Ice Melters with Caution 

Salt ice melt on a road or walkway is excellent for breaking up debris, but the salt runoff can burn your plants. 

Pay attention to the snow you remove from your yard and whether it contains salt.

In addition to preventing slips and falls, keep your patios, decks, pathways, and other hard surfaces properly salted and maintained throughout the winter.

This will enhance your curb appeal and possibly prevent damage from ice thawing and refreezing in cracks.

Read More: Ice Melter Safe For Concrete: Top 7 Options for Winters

12. Winter Pruning

Winter is the time to trim your trees, hedges, and other plants despite the cold. 

You can see and reach troublesome branches more easily because most trees lose their leaves in the fall.

Throughout the winter, pruning back trees and shrubs will maintain their health and give your area a well-kept appearance. 

Besides that, it helps the trees focus their energy on new growth, removing dead or dying branches and eliminating the risk of a branch falling on someone or causing property damage.

If you need to remove any decaying branches, use the safer route and hire landscaping professionals to keep your garden maintenance risk-free.

If you want more information on winter pruning, give this a read.

FAQs

In winter, how often should I water the plants, and when should I do so?

Yes, but not as often. During the winter, plants—especially newly planted trees and evergreen shrubs—need water. Water once a month for established plants or more frequently if the soil is dry and not frozen. When the temperature drops below freezing, don't water.

How can I prevent frost damage to plants?

Cover susceptible plants and protect the soil with cloches, mulch, or frost blankets. Potted plants can also be brought inside or to a protected area.

How should my lawn be maintained in the winter?

To avoid damage, don't walk on a frozen lawn. Mow sparingly, just when required, and keep it clear of leaves and other debris. Increase the cutting height on the mower.

Contact Lawn Care Services in Mississauga For Garden Maintenance  

These are our effective garden maintenance tips that will make your lawn look stunning during all seasons.

If you are afraid that you'll make common garden maintenance mistakes, you can contact Falcon Landscaping.

Our team will get every situation right by providing the best advice possible.

If you are thinking about putting a full stop to garden maintenance before and during winter, it is too early for that.

To give your garden a head start in the upcoming year, you need to do a few things in winter. 

During this time, you get an opportunity to nourish the soil and support the growth of plants.

Today, we will discuss the steps you require to add to your garden maintenance checklist.

So, you will get an answer to your popular question, "How do I prepare my garden for winter in Canada?". 

Learn More: Winter Lawn Care: 12 Essential Tips to Protect Your Grass

How Do I Prepare My Garden for Winter in Canada: 12 Garden Maintenance Tips

An infographic listing the steps of how do I prepare my garden for winter in Canada

Without delay, let's dive straight into the steps you need for garden maintenance:

1. Enhance Your Soil

You may not have heard of this before, but winter is a great time to concentrate on enhancing the composition and quality of your soil. 

First thing first, you need to add compost to your soil for nourishment, drainage, and water retention.

To keep the compost pile at the ideal temperature, keep the diameter at least three feet in your lawn.

Secondly, heavy tilling can break the natural structure by releasing precious carbon. So, when it comes to raking and tilling, it is better to let the soil rest as it is.

This may promote the growth of microorganisms and earthworms, which enhance soil health. 

By improving soil stability, these organisms increase the soil's resistance to erosion and moisture retention. 

In addition to protecting the soil, winter weeds provide cover and food for many species. 

Winter weeds like Hairy Bittercress and Dandelions improve drainage by penetrating the soil with long, thin taproots. So, pulling weeds is not always the best strategy for garden maintenance.

Winter weeds differ from summer weeds, which are usually big, aggressive plants that take over. 

In early spring garden maintenance, you can remove any winter weeds and put them in your compost pile to prevent them from reseeding.

2. Add Layers of Mulch to the Lawn 

In winter, mulching plants helps protect them from sudden freezing and thawing, which can cause bulbs and shallow-rooted plants to heave out of the ground, causing breakage.

Mulching is your best option for delicate plants if your winters are cold and nightly lows below 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Additionally, mulching your plants can help them stay active throughout the winter rather than dormant if your area's weather rarely drops below freezing. 

A nighttime frost may harm these active plants when they decide to sprout new growth. Consequently, the damaged tissues invite multiple bacterial and fungal diseases.

Regardless of the season, you should ideally mulch your plants at night. 

The mulching options for garden maintenance are various organic materials, including chopped corn cobs, bark, pine needles, and straw.

If you want to learn how to prevent frost heave in Canada, here is a guide.

3. Use the Right Fertilizer For Winter Garden Maintenance 

Using fallen leaves is a natural technique to enrich your soil with organic matter and nutrients. 

They decay slowly, enriching the soil as they do so, much like a slow-release fertilizer. 

Throughout the winter, this organic layer promotes beneficial microbial activity and aids in moisture retention.

In late October, you should start preparing your grass for winter. Applying winter fertilizer is best done before the ground freezes.

When applying winter lawn fertilizer, timing is important for maximum benefits. Water-soluble nitrogen with a rapid release is present in the best winter fertilizer. 

This garden maintenance tip guarantees the fertilizer's effectiveness, adequate absorption, and prevention of groundwater contamination.

Because many lawn owners make mistakes while applying fertilizer, here are the ones you should avoid at all costs:

  • Applying fertilizer for winter grass too soon or too late.

  • Over-fertilizing grass using winter fertilizer.

  • Overuse of winter fertilizer.

4. Clean Your Gardening Equipment

Cleaning your gardening tools should be done all year round, which is important for garden maintenance.

This garden maintenance step will help eliminate potentially disease-ridden dirt, prevent rust from forming, reduce sap buildup, and keep the equipment in good shape.

5. Protect the Plants

You should keep the sensitive plants inside during extremely cold winters in Canada. This garden maintenance tip can save you from planting new seeds every season.

To keep the plant from falling into shock, leave the covers on until the ground thaws and take them off on a cloudy day.

Containers are essential for winter planting. Sturdy containers that can tolerate temperature changes are perfect, particularly for outside plants.

Here are the ways to store plants:

Metal and Ceramic pots: Offer protection from abrupt temperature changes.

Plastic pots: Ideal for bringing plants inside or into protected areas.

Stands for pots: Using stands to raise pots keeps them off of chilly ground surfaces, which can cause the soil and roots to freeze. Additionally, this promotes improved air circulation. In this way, you won't have to deal with the stubborn mold.

Self-watering pots: These are especially helpful in the winter when less frequent watering is required. Such pots keep the soil consistently moist without becoming overly saturated.

In addition to mulching, give less delicate plants a fighting chance in winter by wrapping them in burlap if you can't bring them inside. 

Burlap keeps your plants from suffocating because it is breathable, sufficiently thick, and durable to withstand the hard winter cold. 

Once the temperature has dropped to around five degrees Celsius but before the ground freezes, it's crucial to remember to wrap your plants regularly. 

6. Take Out or Trim Back Plants

Remove any wasted vegetables and annual flowers or clip them off at ground level to allow the roots to break down in the soil. 

Also, trim back herbaceous perennials. You can leave some of the ornamental plants to provide your winter garden visual interest because of their sturdy stems and seed heads. 

You should also leave perennials such as Russian sage and lavender that produce the growth buds for the following year on woody stems.

7. Water the Plants Carefully

Winter watering requirements are very different. Hence, your garden maintenance steps should address the watering issues.

Since plants grow more slowly and evaporate less water, overwatering is a common problem.

Before rewatering, let the top inch of soil dry out. Check drainage and water outdoor plants only when the soil is dry to prevent waterlogging.

An efficient way to water plants sparingly without oversaturating the soil is with a sprayer pump. 

It is useful for sensitive plants that require misting rather than intensive watering.

8. Prepare a Raised Bed for Winter

Raised beds are common in many gardens and have been popular for years for food or ornamental purposes. Using it is a great garden maintenance tip for winter.

Winter is when the garden needs to be cared for and ready for the next year. And around the same time, last-minute harvesting takes place. 

Since some plants grow slowly over the winter, putting seeds during this cold season is convenient to guarantee that spring veggies will be ripe sooner. 

If the plants are resilient enough, they can be left in the raised bed throughout the winter. 

In the raised bed, various perennials weather the winter without harm. Additionally, many herbs can be overwintering in the raised bed, and some can even be harvested in the winter. 

Herbs that keep their leaves throughout the winter, such as rosemary, thyme, and sage, will be amazing options. 

Harvesting shouldn't be too strict because nothing grows back during the winter season. Harvesting leaves separately is another garden maintenance tip that you should remember.

That is because chopping off entire stalks would allow germs, and the plant may die from freeze damage.

If you can't decide which are the best plants for your lawn in winter, visit this blog.

9. Stay Away from the Frozen Lawn

Although frosty lawns provide a lovely morning sight, you should avoid stepping on them. 

Frozen grass is brittle and will take time to heal. When the grass gets colder than the surrounding air, frost forms.

Damage to the blades may result from walking on frozen grass. It may take until spring for the frozen blades to regenerate normally after breaking and turning brown. 

For garden maintenance, wait until the sun melts the frost if you have to mow in the winter. 

10. Put up a Drainage System

Another garden maintenance tip for winter in Canada is to install a drainage system if you don't already have one. 

You should anticipate that the issues will only worsen throughout the winter if you notice a damp lawn in the fall. 

A rain barrel, dry river bed, French drain, or another method will let the standing water flow away from your foundation and grass instead of collecting. 

If there are sinking places and slopes, you can try to make these regions even. Soil additives can help with drainage problems in soil with a lot of clay.

11. Use Salt Ice Melters with Caution 

Salt ice melt on a road or walkway is excellent for breaking up debris, but the salt runoff can burn your plants. 

Pay attention to the snow you remove from your yard and whether it contains salt.

In addition to preventing slips and falls, keep your patios, decks, pathways, and other hard surfaces properly salted and maintained throughout the winter.

This will enhance your curb appeal and possibly prevent damage from ice thawing and refreezing in cracks.

Read More: Ice Melter Safe For Concrete: Top 7 Options for Winters

12. Winter Pruning

Winter is the time to trim your trees, hedges, and other plants despite the cold. 

You can see and reach troublesome branches more easily because most trees lose their leaves in the fall.

Throughout the winter, pruning back trees and shrubs will maintain their health and give your area a well-kept appearance. 

Besides that, it helps the trees focus their energy on new growth, removing dead or dying branches and eliminating the risk of a branch falling on someone or causing property damage.

If you need to remove any decaying branches, use the safer route and hire landscaping professionals to keep your garden maintenance risk-free.

If you want more information on winter pruning, give this a read.

FAQs

In winter, how often should I water the plants, and when should I do so?

Yes, but not as often. During the winter, plants—especially newly planted trees and evergreen shrubs—need water. Water once a month for established plants or more frequently if the soil is dry and not frozen. When the temperature drops below freezing, don't water.

How can I prevent frost damage to plants?

Cover susceptible plants and protect the soil with cloches, mulch, or frost blankets. Potted plants can also be brought inside or to a protected area.

How should my lawn be maintained in the winter?

To avoid damage, don't walk on a frozen lawn. Mow sparingly, just when required, and keep it clear of leaves and other debris. Increase the cutting height on the mower.

Contact Lawn Care Services in Mississauga For Garden Maintenance  

These are our effective garden maintenance tips that will make your lawn look stunning during all seasons.

If you are afraid that you'll make common garden maintenance mistakes, you can contact Falcon Landscaping.

Our team will get every situation right by providing the best advice possible.

If you are thinking about putting a full stop to garden maintenance before and during winter, it is too early for that.

To give your garden a head start in the upcoming year, you need to do a few things in winter. 

During this time, you get an opportunity to nourish the soil and support the growth of plants.

Today, we will discuss the steps you require to add to your garden maintenance checklist.

So, you will get an answer to your popular question, "How do I prepare my garden for winter in Canada?". 

Learn More: Winter Lawn Care: 12 Essential Tips to Protect Your Grass

How Do I Prepare My Garden for Winter in Canada: 12 Garden Maintenance Tips

An infographic listing the steps of how do I prepare my garden for winter in Canada

Without delay, let's dive straight into the steps you need for garden maintenance:

1. Enhance Your Soil

You may not have heard of this before, but winter is a great time to concentrate on enhancing the composition and quality of your soil. 

First thing first, you need to add compost to your soil for nourishment, drainage, and water retention.

To keep the compost pile at the ideal temperature, keep the diameter at least three feet in your lawn.

Secondly, heavy tilling can break the natural structure by releasing precious carbon. So, when it comes to raking and tilling, it is better to let the soil rest as it is.

This may promote the growth of microorganisms and earthworms, which enhance soil health. 

By improving soil stability, these organisms increase the soil's resistance to erosion and moisture retention. 

In addition to protecting the soil, winter weeds provide cover and food for many species. 

Winter weeds like Hairy Bittercress and Dandelions improve drainage by penetrating the soil with long, thin taproots. So, pulling weeds is not always the best strategy for garden maintenance.

Winter weeds differ from summer weeds, which are usually big, aggressive plants that take over. 

In early spring garden maintenance, you can remove any winter weeds and put them in your compost pile to prevent them from reseeding.

2. Add Layers of Mulch to the Lawn 

In winter, mulching plants helps protect them from sudden freezing and thawing, which can cause bulbs and shallow-rooted plants to heave out of the ground, causing breakage.

Mulching is your best option for delicate plants if your winters are cold and nightly lows below 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Additionally, mulching your plants can help them stay active throughout the winter rather than dormant if your area's weather rarely drops below freezing. 

A nighttime frost may harm these active plants when they decide to sprout new growth. Consequently, the damaged tissues invite multiple bacterial and fungal diseases.

Regardless of the season, you should ideally mulch your plants at night. 

The mulching options for garden maintenance are various organic materials, including chopped corn cobs, bark, pine needles, and straw.

If you want to learn how to prevent frost heave in Canada, here is a guide.

3. Use the Right Fertilizer For Winter Garden Maintenance 

Using fallen leaves is a natural technique to enrich your soil with organic matter and nutrients. 

They decay slowly, enriching the soil as they do so, much like a slow-release fertilizer. 

Throughout the winter, this organic layer promotes beneficial microbial activity and aids in moisture retention.

In late October, you should start preparing your grass for winter. Applying winter fertilizer is best done before the ground freezes.

When applying winter lawn fertilizer, timing is important for maximum benefits. Water-soluble nitrogen with a rapid release is present in the best winter fertilizer. 

This garden maintenance tip guarantees the fertilizer's effectiveness, adequate absorption, and prevention of groundwater contamination.

Because many lawn owners make mistakes while applying fertilizer, here are the ones you should avoid at all costs:

  • Applying fertilizer for winter grass too soon or too late.

  • Over-fertilizing grass using winter fertilizer.

  • Overuse of winter fertilizer.

4. Clean Your Gardening Equipment

Cleaning your gardening tools should be done all year round, which is important for garden maintenance.

This garden maintenance step will help eliminate potentially disease-ridden dirt, prevent rust from forming, reduce sap buildup, and keep the equipment in good shape.

5. Protect the Plants

You should keep the sensitive plants inside during extremely cold winters in Canada. This garden maintenance tip can save you from planting new seeds every season.

To keep the plant from falling into shock, leave the covers on until the ground thaws and take them off on a cloudy day.

Containers are essential for winter planting. Sturdy containers that can tolerate temperature changes are perfect, particularly for outside plants.

Here are the ways to store plants:

Metal and Ceramic pots: Offer protection from abrupt temperature changes.

Plastic pots: Ideal for bringing plants inside or into protected areas.

Stands for pots: Using stands to raise pots keeps them off of chilly ground surfaces, which can cause the soil and roots to freeze. Additionally, this promotes improved air circulation. In this way, you won't have to deal with the stubborn mold.

Self-watering pots: These are especially helpful in the winter when less frequent watering is required. Such pots keep the soil consistently moist without becoming overly saturated.

In addition to mulching, give less delicate plants a fighting chance in winter by wrapping them in burlap if you can't bring them inside. 

Burlap keeps your plants from suffocating because it is breathable, sufficiently thick, and durable to withstand the hard winter cold. 

Once the temperature has dropped to around five degrees Celsius but before the ground freezes, it's crucial to remember to wrap your plants regularly. 

6. Take Out or Trim Back Plants

Remove any wasted vegetables and annual flowers or clip them off at ground level to allow the roots to break down in the soil. 

Also, trim back herbaceous perennials. You can leave some of the ornamental plants to provide your winter garden visual interest because of their sturdy stems and seed heads. 

You should also leave perennials such as Russian sage and lavender that produce the growth buds for the following year on woody stems.

7. Water the Plants Carefully

Winter watering requirements are very different. Hence, your garden maintenance steps should address the watering issues.

Since plants grow more slowly and evaporate less water, overwatering is a common problem.

Before rewatering, let the top inch of soil dry out. Check drainage and water outdoor plants only when the soil is dry to prevent waterlogging.

An efficient way to water plants sparingly without oversaturating the soil is with a sprayer pump. 

It is useful for sensitive plants that require misting rather than intensive watering.

8. Prepare a Raised Bed for Winter

Raised beds are common in many gardens and have been popular for years for food or ornamental purposes. Using it is a great garden maintenance tip for winter.

Winter is when the garden needs to be cared for and ready for the next year. And around the same time, last-minute harvesting takes place. 

Since some plants grow slowly over the winter, putting seeds during this cold season is convenient to guarantee that spring veggies will be ripe sooner. 

If the plants are resilient enough, they can be left in the raised bed throughout the winter. 

In the raised bed, various perennials weather the winter without harm. Additionally, many herbs can be overwintering in the raised bed, and some can even be harvested in the winter. 

Herbs that keep their leaves throughout the winter, such as rosemary, thyme, and sage, will be amazing options. 

Harvesting shouldn't be too strict because nothing grows back during the winter season. Harvesting leaves separately is another garden maintenance tip that you should remember.

That is because chopping off entire stalks would allow germs, and the plant may die from freeze damage.

If you can't decide which are the best plants for your lawn in winter, visit this blog.

9. Stay Away from the Frozen Lawn

Although frosty lawns provide a lovely morning sight, you should avoid stepping on them. 

Frozen grass is brittle and will take time to heal. When the grass gets colder than the surrounding air, frost forms.

Damage to the blades may result from walking on frozen grass. It may take until spring for the frozen blades to regenerate normally after breaking and turning brown. 

For garden maintenance, wait until the sun melts the frost if you have to mow in the winter. 

10. Put up a Drainage System

Another garden maintenance tip for winter in Canada is to install a drainage system if you don't already have one. 

You should anticipate that the issues will only worsen throughout the winter if you notice a damp lawn in the fall. 

A rain barrel, dry river bed, French drain, or another method will let the standing water flow away from your foundation and grass instead of collecting. 

If there are sinking places and slopes, you can try to make these regions even. Soil additives can help with drainage problems in soil with a lot of clay.

11. Use Salt Ice Melters with Caution 

Salt ice melt on a road or walkway is excellent for breaking up debris, but the salt runoff can burn your plants. 

Pay attention to the snow you remove from your yard and whether it contains salt.

In addition to preventing slips and falls, keep your patios, decks, pathways, and other hard surfaces properly salted and maintained throughout the winter.

This will enhance your curb appeal and possibly prevent damage from ice thawing and refreezing in cracks.

Read More: Ice Melter Safe For Concrete: Top 7 Options for Winters

12. Winter Pruning

Winter is the time to trim your trees, hedges, and other plants despite the cold. 

You can see and reach troublesome branches more easily because most trees lose their leaves in the fall.

Throughout the winter, pruning back trees and shrubs will maintain their health and give your area a well-kept appearance. 

Besides that, it helps the trees focus their energy on new growth, removing dead or dying branches and eliminating the risk of a branch falling on someone or causing property damage.

If you need to remove any decaying branches, use the safer route and hire landscaping professionals to keep your garden maintenance risk-free.

If you want more information on winter pruning, give this a read.

FAQs

In winter, how often should I water the plants, and when should I do so?

Yes, but not as often. During the winter, plants—especially newly planted trees and evergreen shrubs—need water. Water once a month for established plants or more frequently if the soil is dry and not frozen. When the temperature drops below freezing, don't water.

How can I prevent frost damage to plants?

Cover susceptible plants and protect the soil with cloches, mulch, or frost blankets. Potted plants can also be brought inside or to a protected area.

How should my lawn be maintained in the winter?

To avoid damage, don't walk on a frozen lawn. Mow sparingly, just when required, and keep it clear of leaves and other debris. Increase the cutting height on the mower.

Contact Lawn Care Services in Mississauga For Garden Maintenance  

These are our effective garden maintenance tips that will make your lawn look stunning during all seasons.

If you are afraid that you'll make common garden maintenance mistakes, you can contact Falcon Landscaping.

Our team will get every situation right by providing the best advice possible.

Other Blogs

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Your go-to destination for insightful articles, tips, and inspiration on all things landscaping and outdoor living

Other Blogs

Other Similar Blogs

Your go-to destination for insightful articles, tips, and inspiration on all things landscaping and outdoor living

Other Blogs

Other Similar Blogs

Your go-to destination for insightful articles, tips, and inspiration on all things landscaping and outdoor living