Preparing Your Yard for Winter

Though many gardeners would love to avoid it, every year winter comes our way. When the snow flies, any work in the garden comes to a halt, so take advantage of our warm fall days to prepare your garden for winter. In doing so, you’re eliminating many spring tasks, preventing insect and disease problems, and protecting plants for winter.

Fertilize Your Lawn

The best time to apply a fall fertilizer is from mid-September to early October. We recommend Pro Mix 10-0-32. This fall blend provides a moderate level of nitrogen to feed your lawn through fall, and a generous amount of potassium to strengthen your root system for winter. This blend also includes peat moss and organic matter for healthier soil and greater tolerance to stress and drought.

Water Water Water!

By watering in fall, we ensure plants have plenty of moisture to draw from, especially during harmful freeze/thaw cycles. Deep root watering is an easy and economical way to provide moisture. A root irrigator can be attached to a garden hose and inserted at the dripline around the tree for a deep, effective watering.

Eliminate Overwintering Insects & Diseases

Horticultural Oil is a product that will suffocate overwintering insects. Once leaves have fallen from trees and shrubs, simply mix with water and spray onto branches. Note that temperatures need to be above Oº Celsius.

If you experienced fungal diseases like powdery mildew, rust or black spot this season, ensure a thorough clean up of all leaf debris around plants. For additional clean up, apply lime sulphur spray to bare branches once leaves have all dropped. Lime sulphur must be applied at temperatures above Oº Celsius.

Protect your Plants

Newly transplanted Cedars and Evergreens (as well as tender shrubs such as Rhododendron, Azalea and Boxwood) will require a protective barrier to prevent winter winds from drying them out.

Be sure to secure stakes in the soil to support the burlap so it is at least 6″ from the outer foliage. This same ‘shelter’ can be created with a large tomato cage with burlap wrapped around the outside.

Tender roses should be mulched in after the ground freezes hard. Cut your tender roses to about 6” from ground level. Create a shelter around the rose using an open-ended cardboard box or burlap wrapped around stakes. Fill the shelter with clean leaves, bark mulch or peat moss. There is no need to mulch hardy roses.

Soil

Fall is the perfect time to incorporate organic matter like compost to improve texture in heavy soils and add an amazing source of nutrients. Use a bulk compost mix or bagged compost such as Sea Soil.

Animal Repellants

These should be applied prior to freeze up.

No Bite – Available in aerosol can. No Bite is effective against dogs, cats, rabbits, and mice. Deters pests from chewing bark/plants with its extremely bitter taste.

Bobbex or Plantskydd – Available in ready to use or concentrate. They are sprayed on bark and foliage of plants. Contains a grouping of proteins (eggs, fish meal etc.) along with garlic, dried eggs and more to repel pests by scent and taste.