Whether you possess exceptional gardening skills or not, one thing is for sure that you need to have patience for your fruits of labor to show up no matter how hard you worked on the lawn. Nothing will grow overnight, such as veggies, flowers, and herbs. That's why it is better to plan for the next spring season from late summer and fall. Hot and humid summer leads to diseases and insects in the plants. Hence, you have to take extra care of your garden. Then, the winter months pose another set of challenges due to which you have to dig in the dirt. If you do what these seasons demand, your plants and trees will survive through the year.
A sprawling garden, a small urban plot, or a balcony garden will have many plants. You can get them ready for the next season by eliminating any diseased material and keep them safe from infection. The best thing is these tasks are neither expensive nor labor-intensive. Only a few drops of sweat can be enough. So here are some suggestions you can implement before the temperature starts to dip.
Repairing small holes in the lawn
You can use seeds or sod to treat the bare spots in the grassy field. The best time for this can be the late summer and autumn seasons when the grass is growing. Some grasses grow during cooler months also in a few parts of the country. It happens before the soil becomes frozen between December and February. Anyway, warm seasons span from May to mid-September. You can look for these types of grass in the South. Do you wonder how to identify the grass? You can consult local services for this.
Planting flowers
The long cold months can look depressing. But the first sight of spring flowers popping up can be a balm for your winter-weary soul. For that, you have to plant bulbs right away. Daffodils, hyacinths, allium, crocuses, and tulips can be some of the best picks. You will want to opt for allium, daffodils, and hyacinths if chipmunks invade your garden. Alternatively, you can install chicken wire to save your bulbs from them. If you can dig the soil, it will not be difficult to plant the bulbs.
Cleaning up
Most plants suffer diseases because of the infected soil. If there is plant debris in your lawn, the disease will not disappear. For example, perennials can easily get infected by a common fungus called powdery mildew in winter. To prevent the disease from lingering, you have to get rid of the diseased stems and leaves from the garden. Eliminate weeds and remove dead annuals and veggies, etc. If there are healthy faded plants, you can compost them. Make sure you don't use the infected foliage, though.
Dividing perennials
The colorful blooms and unique foliages grace your lawn every year. At times, they don't grow fully or create a bald spot in the middle of the crown. Or, these may also need support for the stems to stay firm. All these scenarios hint at the need to divide them. Due to overcrowding, plants may not get sufficient nutrition and air, which can lead to diseases also. When you split them into smaller areas, you allow them to thrive. They get rejuvenated. Irises, sedum, and coneflowers can grow every year. You can get them for your garden to enjoy their presence for a long time. But you have to pay attention to their growth. Crowding or overgrowth can affect their performance. To avoid this, you have to divide them at the gap of every two or three years.
To divide them, you need to cut a small portion with some roots from the edge with a hand trowel and replant them at a different location. These would demand proper watering. Also, the replanting task should finish at least six weeks before the colder season to help plants hold on to their position.
However, falls are also great months for planting new perennials, trees, and shrubs because of the stable temperature and rainfall. Since the soil can be warm, you can expect healthy plant growth. Again, you have to ensure that you complete this work six weeks before the freezing temperature comes rushing. You would want to look after their watering needs, especially if the falls are dry.
Cleaning the garden and garden tools
Removing fallen maple and oak leaves from the ground is essential as they can create a slimy mess. You can chop the leaves with a mulching mower, rake them, and gather them with the compost pile for adding mulch near the plants. It will help control weed growth and save plants from thawing and freezing. Plus, these will act as nutrients for your plants as they decompose. Just as your garden or lawn should be clean of leaves, the garden tools you use to perform all the gardening tasks should be clean. Otherwise, contaminated equipment can spread plant diseases.
Everything should be clean before next springtime. Gather all the tools to wash them, including empty seed trays and pots. You would want to soak them in a bowl, bucket, or sink to allow them to leave dirt and dust quickly. If you don't have an outdoor garden sink, you can use your kettle faucet installed near a stove in the kitchen for its high arc design. Add dishwashing soap in the water and put them inside it to knock off the dirt. It can be time-consuming. But it is worth your efforts for the sake of the health of your lawn.
Maintaining a small or any garden size is not a joke. It requires regular maintenance. From planting to cleaning to uprooting, the process can be longer but most gratifying after you get to see the results. Still, you have to love gardening a bit. Otherwise, it can be challenging to keep even smaller pots and plants healthy. If you want to enjoy the beauty of the exciting flora without any effort on your end, you can ask local service providers to do the needful. It can be a little expensive. Still, you will have a garden of your own.
