9 Winter Gardening Chores For Springtime Planting

If you are just starting out as a gardener, you may think you don’t have much to do during the wintertime, however, you’d be wrong! The best time to begin preparing your garden for spring is in the dead of winter.

Good planning and preparation is key to a successful flower or vegetable garden. We will share nine winter gardening chores you can pursue during the winter months to get your garden ready for a fabulous and fruitful spring. Read on to learn more.

Plan Now

One of the best things you can do during the winter months is to plan out your spring garden. If you are just starting a garden, you can take advantage of many online services that offer free garden plans. Doing a little research and drawing up a plan for your garden will help you create the most attractive and abundant garden with the most efficient investment of energy and materials.

Look At Almanac

While you are researching you should also become a frequent visitor of a good Farmer’s Almanac-style website. Look up information such as the final frost date for your area, weather predictions and so on. Foreknowledge of weather conditions can guide you in what to plant and when.

Collect Items

One very enjoyable wintertime pursuit for a gardener is perusing gardening catalogs and websites for seeds, bulbs, planting paraphernalia and gardening decor. Once you have completed your plan for your garden, you are ready to begin gathering all of the materials you will need to manifest your dream!

Tool Maintenance

Inventory your tools to make sure that you have everything you need. Take some time during the winter months to locate and purchase high quality gardening tools and equipment so that you will be ready for spring. If you already have a good collection of equipment, inspect each item to make sure of soundness. Sharpen dull blades, sand and varnish splintered handles, and oil moving parts. Having everything shipshape when it’s time to begin your gardening season will save you time and frustration.

Start Seeds

Many veggies (e.g. tomatoes) and ornamental garden plants benefit from being started inside and planted as seedlings rather than seeds in the spring time. Set up a planting table indoors with a grow light to get your seedlings off to a good start.

Take Advantage of Nice Winter Days

On sunny winter days, take the opportunity to prune back trees and bushes and ornamental grasses. During the very cold months of the year, these plants are dormant, and this is the perfect time for pruning. It is easier to see what you are doing when pruning trees without leaves. Additionally, pruning is not such arduous work on cooler days.

Prepare Your Beds

As winter gives way to spring, you will want to clear your gardening beds and get them ready. Pick up fallen limbs, twigs and branches. Rake up excessive leaves and remove any dead annuals left over from last year. Remember to toss all of this debris into your compost heap. Rich, homemade compost is excellent food for your garden.

Set Out Your Seedlings

Once all danger of frost has passed and your beds are well prepared, you can carefully place your seedlings outdoors. Be sure to follow instructions regarding the amount of sun necessary and the distance between plants for optimum growth. Keep the soil uniformly moist for a couple of weeks so that your delicate seedlings can establish strong roots.

TIP: Don’t put “all your eggs” in one basket! Begin by starting a few seedlings outdoors to see how they do. Give them a week or so to establish themselves and move out a few more. In this way, you can avoid the risk of losing all of your precious seedling in case you have misjudged the weather.

Prepare Your Soil for Planting

If there are any weeds present, pull them. Till finished compost into the soil to enrich and feed it. Divide and transplant any perennials that may be present. Mulch over the soil to protect it and hold in moisture.

For an avid gardener, there is always plenty to do at any time of year. If you take a break from your gardening preparations during the wintertime, you are sure to regret it in the spring. By managing your time wisely and doing these winter gardening chores, you will lighten your load during the growing and harvesting season.