Winter Flower
Garden
Creating
a winter flower
garden in
many parts of the world might not actually be exactly how it
sounds. Most winter flower gardens are simply preparations for
spring blossoms. Preparing your flower beds for instance,
composting, and planting bulbs that will start blooming in
early spring are the standard activities involved in winter
flower gardening.
Some parts
of the world can have actually blooming flowers, trees, shrubs
and plants in the winter time though, and the colder climates
can enjoy winter flower gardening using indoor containers and
pots. If you've thought it out ahead of time though, you may
have many plants and shrubs outside which create interesting
variations in your flower garden through the winter too. Trees,
bushes or plants which have unusual looking bark or evergreen
leaves for instance, make wonderful additions to a garden for
winter time beauty.
Preparing
your flower garden in winter usually involves doing some
standard maintenance though. Turning the soil in flower beds
for instance, so the worms and weather can help make the soil
more fertile for next spring is one of the most common
activities done in the winter flower garden. Creating compost
is another.
To create
compost in your winter flower garden, start in the late fall
before you get the first hard freeze. Turn the soil in your
flower garden beds and give them a good deep soaking of water.
Then mix in a variety of organic materials that will slowly
decompose over the winter. Great organic materials that can be
added to your winter flower garden beds include shredded
newspaper, wood chips and sawdust, coffee and tea grounds, and
table scraps from your kitchen. Be sure you don't mix milk or
meat products into your flower garden bed though, just scraps
of vegetables and fruits.
Once you
have a nice sized pile of organic material in your flower
garden bed, mix it into the soil, then leave it through the
winter. Next spring you will find some of the richest, most
fertile soil in that flower bed.
Other
activities involved in winter flower gardening involve sowing
seeds which need to germinate through the winter so they'll
bloom for you next spring. Some flowers and plants can't grow
and bloom without this wintering period first, and this is an
enjoyable way to do some winter flower gardening that will pay
off in beautiful blooms within just a few
months.
Many more
activities can be done with winter flower gardening too. For
instance some flowering
shrubs are best pruned in the winter time. These include
rose bushes and wisteria vines. Winter is also a good time to
plant new bare root shrubs and trees, as well as evergreen and
deciduous trees or shrubs because they're dormant this time of
year.
Don't
forget mulching activities for your winter flower garden too,
especially if you have new perennial plants, shrubs, bushes or
trees in your garden. Putting out extra mulch before the
coldest periods hit is usually best, because this helps protect
the more tender roots of new plantings. On severe cold days or
nights, some of your plants and shrubs may need to be covered
with a plastic or burlap bag to prevent frost damage to the
leaves too.
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