7 ways to prepare your garden for winter

In the words of Jon Snow ‘Winter is coming’ – but is your garden prepared? If it is then I take my hat off to you, go you – look at you being all organised and stuff! But if it isn’t prepared and in particular, if you’re wondering what on earth preparing your garden for Winter will entail, this is the post for you – 7 ways to prepare your garden for Winter. 

Now really is the perfect time to get your garden winter-ready, before the weather gets too wet and cold and you really don’t feel like venturing out there.

If you’ve read any of my gardening posts, you’ll know that gardening is a fairly new interest of mine. In fact up until recently I wouldn’t have had too much of a clue what to do for winter either.  With that in mind, I thought it would be useful to create a little checklist of what you should be doing in your garden right now to prepare it for Winter.

So here we go …

7 ways to prepare your garden for winter

1# Tidy the lawn

If you dream of a luscious lawn, you need to start the groundwork now (uh bad pun, I’m sorry). Rake all the leaves and add to compost if you can, raking should allow the lawn to breathe. You can use a fork to arreate it too, to avoid drainage issues over the winter months. Don’t worry too much about raking the flower beds though, as leaves provide a snuggly little blanket, to help protect your plants from frost.  Continue to mow the lawn as required, but don’t take it too short or it may not survive the Winter very well.   

2# Shape shrubs and trim hedges

Prune your shrubs and hedges. Don’t go too crazy, otherwise you could expose them to frost damage – but now is the time to get them looking neat and tidy in order to give yourself a head start for the following spring.

3# Remove summer bedding plants and replace with winter ones

Out with the old and in with the new. Remove all your bedding plants from summer that are starting to look a little jaded and add some new ones to ensure that you’ll still have some splashes of colour.

Great plants for Autumn/Winter include:

• Chrysanthemum
• Pansies
• Violas
• Sweet William
• Forget-me-nots

I couldn’t resist this gorgeous giant Chrysanthemum ball in burnt orange, it’s just so Autumnal – it makes me want to break out the hot chocolate and cosy sweaters.

4# Plant spring bulbs

Plan ahead – now is the time to think about adding bulbs that will flower and provide some beautiful colour in the new year. For impact, plant in clusters – odd numbers are most pleasing to the eye. 

Bulbs to plant this Autumn:

• Crocus
• Snow drops
• Tulips
• Daffodils

5# Store outdoor furniture

Protect your outdoor furniture ready for the following year. Ideally bring it inside or store in a shed, alternatively cover it with secure, waterproof covering.

6# Plant shrubs so that they can mature

If like me, you have some large empty spaces in your garden that your planning to fill with shrubs, don’t hang around. Get them in the ground now and give them an opportunity to establish themselves over the winter months.

7# Divide perennials and replant

If you have perennials that are starting to get  a bit too big for their boots, you can divide them with a spade. Replant elsewhere in the garden, just make sure that the soil conditions are similar and they should thrive in their new position.  

Fancy some more gardening related reads? Thought so! Head over and read my tips for saving money on your garden.

A huge thank you to my Mum who is always my first port of call when it comes to gardening tips. She gave me some great ideas for this blog post! 

What tips would you add to prepare your garden for Winter? Let me know in the comments below.  

Pin for later?