Preserving Your Garden through the Winter

The south has changed seasons from summer to winter within the past few weeks, letting us have fall for almost a week. Anyone who lives here knows that we must go day-by-day with Alabama weather and always be expecting the unexpected.

Many gardeners must prepare to protect their plants, so they make it through the winter season, but how should you do it?

I am here to provide different techniques to protect your plants this season so that they live to see another spring.

• Mulching for the winter is a good, easy, and efficient way to protect your garden this winter and winters to come. Adding mulch to your garden helps manage water supply, temperature and even helps with the growth of your winter plants. Adding mulch, or even more mulch, to your garden will add a protecting layer over the soil. The mulch, over time, will break down adding nutrients to the soil.

• Making sure your plants get enough water during the winter is another way to keep your garden going in the winter. During the winter, the soil often dries up and is slower to release nutrients for your garden. The timing of when you water your plants, and cold spells are something to pay attention to while tending your garden. It is best to check the weather before watering to ensure the ground will not freeze after you water your garden.

• Covering plants during cold spells with a tarp, blanket, or anything else that could fully cover the plant is also a winter gardening trick many still rely on. Covering your garden ensures more warmth for the plants during a freeze. It prevents the moisture on the plants from freezing up while also protecting them from harsh winter winds.

Winter is not only a time to protect your plants. It is also a time to grow new ones. Even vegetables like beets are acceptable to plant now. With it only taking up to eight weeks to grow, they could be harvested in no time.

There are many ways to maintain your garden through the winter without having to start all over in the spring. By completing the tips previously listed will ensure a healthy garden by spring.