Do you live in Canada and need gardening tips on how to prepare for winter? Are you aware that you can plant hardy plants such as perennials, shrubs and trees during fall? As a matter of fact, the most ideal season to plant hardy plants is during autumn.
During fall, you should seriously consider planting tulips, snowdrops, daffodils, crocuses and ornamental alliums to add some attractive color in spring. Before planting, ensure that the soil is properly drained, and planting should be done at least 6 weeks before the soil starts freezing. Start with the snowdrops, crocuses and other small plants first. Daffodils, tulips and other larger species should be planted thereafter.
Get rid of plants that may interfere with those you’ve just planted during fall. A good example are plants that have been infested with disease.
Eliminate plants such as peony, hosta foliage and iris because they are notoriously known for harboring diseases and pests.
Remove excess leaves, perennials, and dead branches as well as weeds. Removing excess leaves and trimming perennials will enable you to avoid insects, snails and slugs, as well as powdery mildew on apple trees and roses. Eliminating branches that are infested with diseases or those that are already dead play a significant role in making plants healthier. If weeding is done during this season, chances of growth during winter are significantly reduced.
Remember that during fall, plants need as much sunlight as possible to facilitate effective growth during the subsequent season. Therefore, you should regularly remove fallen leaves from your lawn.
If the ground is too dry, consider watering the plants on a regular basis. Plants need to absorb and store maximum amount of moisture during fall so as to comfortably survive during winter.
Enrich the soil using compost. The most ideal season to enrich soil using compost is fall. This should be done before the ground starts freezing. You’ll discover that the soil condition will significantly improve by the time winter season commences.
Ideally, the soil temperature should remain favorable even during winter. To facilitate this, apply winter mulch. When winter season starts, your plants will still survive even if alternating thawing and freezing provide inconsistent snow cover.
Plant trees and shrubs at the onset of fall season. It is the perfect time to plant needle-leaved and broad-leaved trees and shrubs. It gives them sufficient time to establish themselves by sending roots deep into the ground.
Carefully examine plants that grow in your containers. If you discover that roots have started emerging from the container bottoms, or the soil has become too compacted, transfer the plants to larger containers before the onset of winter season.
Harvest mature berries, pumpkins and crop guards. Dry wheat and sunflower should also be harvested during fall.
Perennial plants shouldn’t be cut back prematurely. In fact, consider leaving some of them to survive through winter. Colored foliage and seed heads will make your garden look attractive. Additionally, migrating birds can feed on the seeds.
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