In this article, we’ve got some tips to winterise your garden and ensure its low maintenance and ready to enjoy once the spring rolls around in the New Year.
With summer almost out the door and autumn on the horizon, our gardens are slowly going to fall out of use as the air turns colder and we are less likely to enjoy sitting outdoors unless you have a patio heater or chiminea for warmth. Not only does it close to your garden for use, but if you are someone with a pet you might be half dreading the winter months as they start to bring in the dirt, mud and leaves from the garden on their trips outdoors.
Top tips to winterise your garden
Wrapping Up Your Garden Furniture
If you’ve got nice garden furniture, you might be worried about it getting affected by dampness during the cold, wet months and you might not have the available storage to bring it indoors. Damp prevention plastic is available to wrap outdoor soft furnishings with and for extra protection, silica gel packets are available cheaply through several online retailers. Silica gel packets are used by companies around the world to prevent their goods from getting damaged during transit on aeroplanes, boats and trucks so a few should be fine to protect your garden goods.
Protecting Exposed Flower and Food Beds
For the flower boxes or raised planters in your garden, they aren’t likely to have a lot of ground cover over the winter. You can move planters into greenhouses (find green houses for sale) or cover them with plastic greenhouses but for extra protection against dry beds, especially when growing hardy vegetables over winter like kale, beets and cabbage, use some type of extra ground cover. This could be mulch, planting covers, shredded leaves or straw to name a few cost-effective options.
Replace the Dirt with an All-Season Friendly Option
Should you wish to make use of your garden all year round without getting bogged down by damp grounds and muddy patches, there are several options to replace your grass with year-round friendly alternatives. For a tidy, grass alternative, artificial turf is a low-maintenance option with plenty of varieties available to choose from to suit your tastes for a lush, green garden. Click here for a project planner that helps you work out how much you would require for the size of your garden.
Alternatively, patio or concrete offers an option that allows all-year access, although does require more maintenance to ensure it stays safe and clean for use; a pressure spray or stiff brush for removing moss and algae growth and anti-slip additions like tape or etched surfacing.
Move Fragile Items and Garden Tools into Storage
There are plenty of garden tools that don’t want to be left out over the winter months for fear of rusting and frost damage. Make sure to move all metal tools into indoor storage areas like sheds and utility rooms and put some dehumidifier pots around the room if you are concerned about damp making its way in. Clay pots should also be moved into protected areas as they are susceptible to temperature changes and lead to chips and cracks which shorten their lifespans.
Your garden has offered you plenty of enjoyment over the summer, so it makes sense to protect it during the winter months. These tips can be utilised in addition to moving fragile plants into indoor pots, taking any soft furnishings or textiles indoors for storage and covering or applying winter coverage measures to wooden and wicker garden furniture. Be prepared and act now while the daily temperatures still hold some warmth, it may even prevent you from having to spend a lot of money in the spring when you want to start preparing your garden for use again.
No Comments