With summer long gone and winter on the horizon, many of us are hanging up our gardening gloves for another year and pressing pause on our outdoor efforts until spring rolls around once more. But by doing so, you could be missing a trick, as preparing your garden for the challenges of the cold months ahead is one of the best things you can do to ensure it’s ready for action when the pleasant weather returns – and failing to take a few simple steps now could leave you with a huge job on your hands come March 2023.
The good news is that preparing your garden for the winter months is a relatively easy task. Getting rid of dead vegetation, tidying your borders and having a general clean up is all that’s required, so add these five items to your ‘to do’ list for the next few weeks and have them done and dusted ahead of Christmas.
Trim and tidy your borders
Cleaning up the remnants of the summer gone by might seem like a tedious task, but it’s essential if you want to ensure your flower beds look as impressive as you’d like them to in 2023, and that your plants continue to thrive. It’s also a great time to put some spring plants in, so dig out any old bulbs and put in some pansies, crocuses, tulips and hyacinths and you’re almost guaranteed a vibrant display when the lighter, warmer days return.
Tidy your borders to create a defined edge, trim back faded perennials and put down a dense layer of compost, and you’re good to go.
Give your lawn some TLC
Like the rest of your garden, lawns are often neglected during the autumn and winter, but take advantage of the dry days while you can to remove weeds and moss and nourish it with some autumn lawn feed to keep it healthy when the frosty weather sets in, and you’ll be glad you made the effort later on.
If your garden needs re-turfing, then now is also the time to do it, as this will give it time to settle, put down roots and establish itself in time for summer 2023.
Plant a mature hedge
If you’ve been craving a little more privacy in your garden and want a solution that supports the environment as well solving your personal concerns, then autumn is a great time of year to install a hedge. While most plants are bought as seeds or saplings, it isn’t necessary when buying hedging for your luxury garden – and mature hedging is a great option in which most of the hard work has already been done for you.
Featuring a selection of mature plants that have already knitted together, not only will you not have to wait months for your hedge to grow, but you’ll also be able to enjoy a gap-free effect from the word go, so if you’re after a quick solution then look no further.
Plant some evergreens
Gardens can quickly begin to look bare and depressing during the winter months as leaves fall from the trees, blooms die off and shrubs turn brown – but a great way to keep yours looking as verdant as ever is to plant some evergreens.
Clematis, Leucothoe and sarcococca are all great options for autumn planting and will brighten up your outdoor space even when the skies are grey and are great choices for filling gaps in your borders, while bay and holly are beautiful seasonal options that also look great when added into your hedges.
Put away your gardening tools
It might seem like an obvious one, but gardening tools like spades and trowels are often left outside throughout the year and the wet weather in autumn and winter can result in rusting – so dry each item carefully and put it away somewhere dry to ensure it remains in optimal condition when you need it again next year.
It’s also a good time to do some other general maintenance before you do – for example, sharpening shears and secateurs and rubbing wooden handles with linseed oil to protect them from rotting. It’s a quick job, and one you’ll be glad you made the time for when spring 2023 finally arrives and you can return to spending your days outside enjoying your garden once again.
