During the winter months it gets colder and wetter, which could limit your use of gardens, but its also a time when all the hard work you have put into your garden over the spring and summer months could go to waste.
In this short article we look at some simple ideas to help protect your garden and even help nature at the same time.
Six tips for keeping your garden nice through the winter months.
To help protect your garden for future growth and even help the wildlife in your garden, here are six simple tips that could help:
1. Think of birds when planting your garden.
Its not only us humans that suffer in the winter, we don’t get in the garden as often as we would like, but wildlife still needs to feed and shelter, whilst at the same time help maintain your garden for you.
Think about planting berry rich plants and shrubs that both help feed birds, but also looks stunning in your garden, especially if there is snow or frost.
The top four winter plants for birds in your garden:
The following plants are a good source of food and shelter for garden birds in the winter:
- Ivy: A plant that provides great sources of food for birds and insects in the winter. Ivy is a great source of nectar and berries. Ivy grows and climbs fast, ideal for covering walls or fences. Ivy is known to attract Thrushes and Blackcaps.
- Holly: An evergreen dense plant that provides great shelter for birds and also is a lovely looking plant that always provides a Christmas feel to your garden. The berries on Holly are known to attract a wide range of birds.
- Pyracantha: A good trailing plant that is perfect for providing a dense thick hedge, but it also easily climbs up walls providing berries and shelter for birds in the winter.
- Hawthorn: A thick thorny tree with lots of foliage, ideal for protecting smaller birds from predators. The fruits on the tree are not just great for the winter, but they last through to the spring months, providing an excellent food source for birds.
More tips on how to help and attract birds in your garden in the winter:
If you really would like to have more birds in your garden in the winter, the following tips could help:
- Allow some weeds to seed: It’s a good idea to set aside an area of your garden which is less cultivated and is allowed to go wild. If you leave the weeds to naturally seed you could attract birds that are traditionally scared or shy of bird feeders, such as Bullfinches.
- Make sure bird feeders are kept clean: If you have a bird table or hanging feeders, make sure they are kept clean of waste and rotting food. Clean feeders can help prevent disease and maximises the chance of birds getting the food rather than a cheeky squirrel getting a free lunch.
- Put a bird bath in your garden: Birds need a fresh source of water in the winter to both drink and wash in. Make sure the water is refreshed and clean as often as possible and remove ice during frosty periods.
- Leave food in multiple places: Birds feed in different ways, some are only ground feeders and others are happy to feed off bird tables or hanging feeders. If you spread the feeders out, it will allow space for more varied species of birds to feed in your garden.
Whilst it is not always possible to provide extra food for birds in your garden, having a range of berry producing plants is essential.
2. Apply mulch to your garden.
Adding mulch to your garden is a great way to protect the ground from weeds and is a great way to save / retain water in the ground, with out waterlogging your plants.
The best form of mulch to use is a biodegradable mulch such as wood chippings, leaf mould, seaweed or garden compost.
Mulch is not only a benefit for the winter, the water retention also helps the soil around your plants in the summer.
Some key benefits of using mulch in your garden:
- Mulch help soils retain moisture.
- Mulch can help suppress weeds.
- Provide nutrients naturally.
- Reduce the need for watering.
- Improve soil organic matter naturally.
- Mulch can warm up soil in spring.
- Protect plant roots from extreme hot and cold temperatures.
- Encourage beneficial soil organisms.
- Mulch also provides a decorative finish to your garden.
In conclusion mulch can benefit your garden in both the winter and summer, and is a great way to manage weeds and stop soil erosion in the winter.
3. Plant evergreen plants and trees in visual areas.
Evergreen plants are great in the winter as they retain some of the summer colours and familiarity in your garden, but you need to check which plants will best suit your garden.
Evergreen plants differ in suitability, as some love damp shaded conditions while others like dry well lit areas, if you are not careful you will end up buying new plants every year, which is no benefit to you or your garden.
The best evergreen shrubs for your garden in winter:
- Camellia sinensis: Known to flower in late winter when very other plants are offering colour. This plant offers great pink and white flowers.
- Griselinia: A low maintenance shrub with beautiful apple green leaves, great for an evergreen hedge in your garden.
- Winter Heather: A great fast growing winter plant that can provide striking colours in your garden including, pink, orange, purple, white and yellow. Winter heathers are great for bees due to the nectar they produce.
- Lavender: An evergreen fragrant shrub that is versatile and can grow in almost all types of garden and can also provide great borders to your garden.
Evergreens are a great way to add a nice touch of colour to your garden in the winter.
4. Do as much weeding as you can beforehand.
Believe it or not weeds love the winter, so its best to remove as many as you can when you can, else they will be back in full force in the spring.
Adding mulch to your garden can help reduce weed growth.
Although some weeds flower in the winter and can offer some colour, its best to deal with them before spring arrives, else you will face a much bigger challenge!
The best gardening weeding tips:
- Weed when the soil is soft or moist, ideally just after there has been rain.
- Use your hands or a blunt fork, this helps you remove all the roots without cutting and leaving the weed to regrow.
- Deprive weeds of light by using a plastic membrane or mulch.
- Plant new pants in weed free soil, so when watering and feeding you are not helping existing weeds.
Sadly, weeding is a year round job, but regular maintenance helps reduce the challenge.
5. Ensure you have protected your plants.
If possible try and protect your plants from as many of the elements as you can, there are many elements that can damage your plants and garden in the winter, such as:
- Wind
- Rain
- Snow
- Hail
- Frost
Try and invest in an appropriate shelter for your plants, or consider which plants, if possible, could be moved in the winter for more protection.
6. Ensure outdoor water features and taps are protected.
One of the most overlooked things in the garden in the winter is protecting sources of water. Outside taps commonly freeze and that can lead to serious problems within your home. Consider covering your tap or even better drain it completely if you have an isolation valve.
If you have a fountain in your pond and the surface water freezes, it can quickly drain your pond by pumping more water onto the frozen surface. Either regularly monitor your fountain in freezing conditions or turn off completely.
If you have bird baths, make sure they are free from ice as often as possible, to ensure birds have a source of water in the winter.
Winter Garden Protection, Conclusion.
Winter may not be the time when you want to be in your garden, but by making use of the six tips above, it should not only help protect your garden, but it will also provide a nice green / colourful weed free look, which you can enjoy from within your warm home.
Also, its not just you that uses the garden, by doing the above you can also help nature and wildlife, which will continue to help your garden thrive in the summer months.
