Well the time of year has come to start cleaning up The Morganston House for the winter! Its kind of sad closing up the garden for the winter, but in the end it only gets me more excited to keep learning & growing into the next season! You can only guess the amount of plans & visions I have for next year in the garden… so I know I have to make sure I clean up the beds and pots right! So this is what my Saturday looks like my friend, and I thought id take you along with me to give you any tips I’ve learned along the way!
Vegetable Garden Beds
Brandon and I decided to start compositing about half way through the summer this season therefore we do have a space in the garden that is now dedicated to compost. Unfortunately starting late this season we don’t have any mulch quite yet to use, but we have a good base now for the compost to start decomposing over winter into spring. My plan for this compost is to use the mulch directly back into my garden beds when I close them up for Fall. I will use the mulch after I remove all the foliage and dried up blooms from the vegetable garden as a top layer for the beds to allow the nutrients to sink into the soil all season until its ready to be racked and reseeded in the spring. All of this years vegetable garden foliage is going right into the compost. Note I say foliage and not the whole plant – I don’t want to start a garden in my compost haha!
I did have a couple large zucchinis left that I hadn’t picked yet, so I brought those in to clean up, shred and store in my freezer for zucchini loaf! I am totally guilty of making a Zucchini loaf, and have it completely gone by the end of the day! Its just sooo good! So having some frozen ready to use during the winter will be a nice surprise and reminder of the magic of spring vegetable gardening coming soon!
Annuals & Pots
If you’re anything like me currently you have pots of Mums on your porch that will withstand the hot – cold – hot temperatures fall usually brings us. Mums will typically be done blooming after the first sign of frost! Until then, keep up watering your Mums and pruning them when you can to get every last ounce of beauty out of them! Once frost is here, I typically toss the plants, stir the soil in the pot adding in any leftover compost mulch and then let the pot stand until i’m ready to start using my Winter Foliage as decor for Christmas! Ensure that the majority of roots are removed from the soil within the pot so when you are ready to plant again for spring, the soil is ready to take on new annual growth.
So im guilty of having small pots of vines, succulents, etc around the porch as additional decor. Its really important to keep your eyes on the temperature as we transition from Summer to Fall as these guys are a bit more sensitive to the cold then your potted Mums. I have these lovely pots of vine that I’m going to bring in for the winter and keep healthy until they can return to the porch next Spring. I do have two tips for you if you are bringing in small pots! First off, water your pots with an insect killer before you bring in your pot! This typically comes as a concentrate where you simply mix in your watering can and water like normal. This will clean your soil of any insects, mould etc so you aren’t bringing anything indoors that you would typically not welcome in. Second, I would suggest repotting your plant with some fresh nutrient packed soil if you haven’t in a year or so. Plants never stop growing, and they need the room to grow. I would also suggest repotting into a pot that is maybe a inch or two bigger in diameter, to let your plants roots keep spreading increase the number of blooms or length of the plant!
Perennials
Okay its no lie these plants are everyones favourite! No maintenance! But, I’ve learned a few tips that ill share with you to tidy up your garden beds for Spring. I know your first instinct would be to trim all of the foliage back so theres no mess to look at during the upcoming snowing months. However, I like to leave all of my foliage in my perennial garden until Spring because leaving all the foliage & leaves from neighbouring trees helps protect the plants during the very cold temperatures! Especially when working with sensitive plants like all of my Peonies. I like to think of their foliage as a blanket for the root ball over winter until the first signs of spring. Once those temperatures rise and the snow clears in March/April – you bet I’m out there with my shears & wheelbarrow making way for all the new blooms to start popping (this foliage also goes straight to the compost!). This is also a great time to lay down any mulch touch ups you may need before those weeds start popping through.
Speaking of weeds, I know it sounds crazy but I always try to do one last large weed before Frost hits us. This way I’m getting rid of the last of the summer weeds decreasing the chances of them popping back up in the spring. After I do my weed, I will then rake up all the mulch I use in my garden beds, perhaps weeding as a I go to ensure that my mulch is covering all angles of the garden so when spring comes, the weeds are already covered with the mulch! Isn’t mulch just such a wonderful thing??
Garden Shed Clean Up
After all my gardens are put to bed and my tools are ready to be put away, I like to do one large clean up of the Barn and my potting bench before the cold temps really hit. I like to use Christmas decor all around my home, so I try to put away any summer decor and make sure my gardening tools are all cleaned and put away. This makes for a tidy winter and an easy spring so I can get right to work with all my gardening tools! Also its a good time to make a wish list for Christmas for any new Gardening gadgets you saw this season.
Well my friend, there you have it! My few little tips to get out in the garden this weekend and prepare it for winter. I know, I don’t want the warmth to go either! But changing seasons is exciting in all sorts of ways, and if anything makes us appreciate what we have and look forward to the future! Have fun in the garden!
Talk soon,
Sam xx
