In order to be able to enjoy your garden during the warm spring and summer months, you need to get into winter gardening! Read this article to discover valuable tips and tools to help you with gardening during the winter!

1. How to Get a Head Start on Your Garden While It’s Still Cold
It’s still cold outside, but that
doesn’t mean you can’t get
a head start on your garden
so when it does get warmer,
your garden will be ready to
take on new plant life. Pro
gardeners take on different
projects all year long,
regardless of if their garden
is in its prime.
Image Courtesy of digidreamgrafix / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
If you want your garden to
thrive, stay healthy, and look
amazing this summer,
start making preparations.
Prepare the Garden Beds and Grounds
First, prepare your garden beds to withstand cold
temperatures, snow and wind. Start by removing
dead plants and clearing out fallen leaves, sticks
and other debris. Then, lay mulch in your garden,
in flowerbeds and around trees to help the soil
maintain a constant temperature.
You may also consider aerating your lawn now
using a lawn aerator. The main benefit to doing
this now is that you will have one less thing to do
in the spring and you won’t have to deal with
clumps of soil as you probably won’t be using
your garden as much during the winter.
(You can hire a lawn aerator on HSS Hire's
website, by clicking on the link below:
www.hss.com/g/62326/Powered-LawnAerator.html)
Powered Lawn Aerator / HSS Hire
At the end of the fall, you should mow your lawn to a short height. Doing this makes
the grass less likely to bend under the pressure of snow and other moisture, which
can lead to damaged grass and even mould.
Make Repairs
While you are preparing your garden to take on the winter, make repairs so you
won’t have to spend time doing that in the spring. Things like repairing fences,
painting trellises, maintaining stone pathways, cleaning birdbaths and feeders and

2. taking care of other accessories can actually be easier to do in the early or late
winter. During these months, there will likely be less snow and plants that aren’t in
full bloom are easier to work around.
Now is also a good time to add new features to your garden. Adding decorations,
planters, raised gardens and other things now means that you will have more time to
focus on your plants come spring.
Maintain Plant Life
The plants that you
didn’t remove from
your garden need to
be well tended
throughout the winter
so they will look their
best and be healthy
in the spring. Start by
using hedge trimmers
and pruners to trim
long branches. This
will make your garden
look sharp and will
keep your plants
healthy, as snow
won’t be able to
collect on the
branches and break
them.
Pruning Saw / HSS Hire
Fragile bushes should be protected with burlap wraps or screens. You can wrap a
plant in burlap, tied with twine, to protect its branches from winter winds. Or, you can
hammer stakes into the ground around a plant, and then use burlap to create a
screen to block winds. If you want, you can also add straw to the space between the
screen and the plant to add some insulation, keeping the plant warm when
temperatures drop.
Potted plants or fragile plants should be brought inside during the winter so they will
be ready to blossom in the spring. First, bring these plants into your garage so they
can acclimate to warmer temperatures and then bring them inside for the winter.
Plant Bulbs
Some bulbs actually need to be planted in the late fall or early winter so they will
bloom during the spring and summer. This is an easy way to get a head start on
planting.
First, make an aerial sketch of your garden, mapping out where trees, garden
features and other plants are. This makes it much easier to plan what kinds of plants

3. to purchase and figure out how many of each you will need.
Then, add them to your garden before the soil freezes. Some bulbs that should be
planted during the fall or early winter include:
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Alliums
Tulips
Crocuses
Amaryllises
Hyacinths
Lilies
Ranunculuses
Dutch Irises
Apricot Daffodils
You should check with your nursery to find out what kinds of plants do well in your
area and which varieties of these bulbs can be planted in the late fall.
Start Seeds Indoors
You can actually start some seeds inside during the winter and then transplant them
into your garden in the spring. This gives plants a head start and makes it easier for
you to make your garden look full as soon as spring comes. This strategy can also
be more affordable than buying young plants in the spring.
There are special containers you can purchase that are designed for starting seeds
and some types can even be planted in your garden and will decompose. You can
also recycle pots or cell containers other plants came in or even containers from the
kitchen. Be sure to sterilise these containers before you use them.
Use a seed-starting soil mix that is fresh and full of nutrients and make sure the
seeds have plenty of light. Seedlings and new plants need a lot of light so they will
grow healthy and strong. If you don’t have a well-lit place to keep your seedlings, you
can use fluorescent lights.
Once the weather is warm enough, transplant these plants outside into your garden
and continue to tend and nourish them as they flourish.
While the winter months may not be the ideal time to add new plants to your garden
and beautify the grounds, it is the perfect time to take some other steps that will give
you a head start.
Take this opportunity to prepare your garden beds, make repairs, maintain plants,
plant bulbs and even start seeds indoors so you will be ahead of the game on the
first day of spring.
For all your gardening equipment needs, please visit HSS Hire's Gardening
Page: www.hss.com/cl/1014396/Gardening.html