Tag: winter
Creating A Beautiful Winter Garden
Winter gardens can be extraordinarily beautiful. They may lack colorful beds and borders, but they often have a subtler, more satisfying attraction. There is, of course, no lack of color if you look closely. Many trees and shrubs bear vivid red, yellow or orange berries, and there are plenty of bulbs that flower in depths of winter.
Evergreen plants and conifers provide form and texture in every shade of green. It is in winter, however, that the underlying structure of the garden can be appreciated. Unclothed pergolas and trellises can be admired, while ornaments, such as terracotta urns and stone sundials, can be enjoyed for themselves.
Grow Basil Indoors During The Winter
Many persons hold out for the weather to become warmer prior to planting their vegetable garden. Nonetheless, there are a number of dedicated individuals who will be starting their herb gardens indoors this year. One consideration that must be made, when choosing what herbs to plant, is to be aware of which herbs grow effectively indoors. One good choice is basil.
Only a few herbs can be cultivated with success inside. This is generally either on account that there is not an adequate amount of light or the indoor temperature is not suitable for that specific plant. Basil is a great choice since it is fairly flexible when it comes to sunshine. It may not perform as well inside as outdoors but it is possible to grow.
Winter Gardening – Perennial Winter Plants
Most perennial winter plants are dormant in winter and start shooting out of the ground in spring, so the ones that do flower in winter are eye-catching. The following provide an exciting glimpse of what can be grown in the winter garden, when many plants are resting.
Helleborus – This is an important genus from the gardener’s point of view, with many desirable plants, all with nodding flowers and handsome, more or less evergreen leaves. They are indispensable in the winter garden. All Hellebores thrive in the shade of deciduous trees and shrubs and will even tolerate heavy shade next to a wall. They are easy to grow in any fertile, well-drained soil in sun or shade. All are poisonous.
Readying Your Garden For Winter
Winterizing not only makes your garden look better during the cold weather months, but will make for easier work in the spring and it is essential in cold-winter regions, where freezing, drying conditions can tax even hardy plants. Start closing your garden down when there is frost in the forecast or the temperature consistently starts to drop to the low 40’s or mid-30’s (Fahrenheit), usually around late October or November.
One of the first things you should do is clean all the debris from your garden. Get rid of dead foliage, leaves, roots, stakes and row markers. The debris you clean from your garden can be added to your compost heap which will be a big help come spring. You want to be sure, though, not to add any diseased debris or pest infected dead leaves or stalks in your compost pile. You don’t want to accidentally spread a disease from this year’s garden to next year’s.
Protecting Plants Over Winter
Containers get too hot and dry in summer and conversely they get colder than a surrounding garden in winter because a greater area is exposed to the elements.
Plants in containers therefore need special attention in cold winters and may well have to be protected, however warm the microclimate of the individual patio, windowsill or roof garden. Roof gardens are particularly affected for being open to the elements they are more likely to be buffeted by wind and storms.