Gardening Tip of the Month

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Tips to Winterize Your Lawn and Garden

Winter in the Midwest is very unpredictable and it is important for your lawn and garden to be prepared for any kind of weather.  The more preparation work that is done now, the better your lawn and garden will look next spring.

• Continue to water recently planted bulbs, shrubs, trees, and any perennials that were divided this fall if rain is lacking.  This will help the plants to become established and get a head start before a hard freeze this winter.
• Continue to deadhead perennials and annuals.  Even though annuals will not live through the winter and perennials will go dormant, many will continue to bloom until the first frost and will thrive until the first hard freeze.
• Prune dead, diseased, or broken branches on shrubs and trees.  If possible, do not prune back healthy growth until the spring.  Pruning promotes new growth and if it is frozen during a hard freeze or frost, it could severely damage the plant.
• Dig up tender bulbs and other tender plants such as dahlias, cannas, gladiolas, and tropical plants such as bananas or Norfolk Island pines.  Store the bulbs in dry peat, Styrofoam, or perlite in your basement or cool, dry place.
• Protect your plants from the cold and the wind.  Use an antidesiccant spray on your evergreens if they have a tendency to dry out and turn brown from the wind.  Pile extra soil, mulch, or compost on your tender perennials or roses to help them get through the winter.
• Clean up your garden and landscaping by removing dead foliage and plants and pulling weeds.  These measures will help to prevent the overwintering of diseases and pests as well as the overwintering of weed seeds.
• Rake leaves in the yard or use a mulching mower.  The grass has not gone dormant yet and still needs light to prepare for winter.  If you use a mulching mower, you do not have to worry about raking leaves and it adds a few more nutrients to the soil to further help your grass.  
• Apply a slow-release fertilizer to your lawn to encourage vigorous root growth so that grass will grow thicker and greener in the spring.
• Aerate your lawn and spot-seed bare patches to also enhance your grass for spring growth.

Fall is also the time to divide many herbaceous perennials and plant bulbs in preparation for spring.  For more information on either one of these topics, visit the Past Gardening Tips page for related articles.  If you have any questions on these tips or on any other gardening topic, stop by Delhi Flower and Garden Center and chat with one of our experts!

Need more information? Visit our Past Tips page for links to more articles and links to other professional web sites.