Many of us are hanging up our gardening gloves for another year and pausing our outside activities until spring arrives again now that summer is over and winter is just around the corner. However, by doing so, you might be missing a trick because one of the best things you can do to make sure your garden is ready for action when the nice weather returns is to prepare it for the challenges of the upcoming cold months. Failing to take a few simple steps now could leave you with a significant job on your hands come autumn. The good news is that getting your garden ready for the winter is a simple process. Add these five tasks to your “to do” list for the upcoming weeks so you may do them before Christmas. All that’s needed is to get rid of dead vegetation, straighten your borders, and conduct a general clean up.

Clean Up Your Borders

Tidy your borders to create a defined edge, trim back faded perennials and put down a dense layer of compost. Image credit:Virrage Images/Bigstock.com

Although clearing out the leftovers of the previous summer may seem like a laborious effort, it is necessary if you want to make sure that your plants continue to grow and that your flower beds appear as beautiful as you would like them to be. Digging out any outdated bulbs and planting pansies, crocuses, tulips, and hyacinths now will almost certainly result in a colorful show when the longer, warmer days come. It’s also a fantastic time to sow spring flowers. Clean up your borders to give them a distinct edge, cut back fading perennials, and then cover everything with a thick coating of compost.

Care For Your Yard

Like the rest of your garden, lawns are often neglected during the autumn and winter, but take advantage of the dry days while you can. Image credit: fresh_house/Bigstock.com

Lawns, like the rest of your garden, are frequently neglected in the fall and winter, but if you take advantage of the dry days while you can to clean out weeds and moss and feed it with some autumn lawn feed, you’ll be pleased you put in the time and effort when the cold weather arrives. If your garden has to be re-turfed, this is also the ideal time to do it so that it can settle, establish itself, and be ready for the summer.

Installing A Hedge

Installing a hedge is best done in the autumn. Autumn is a perfect time of year to install a hedge if you’ve been yearning for a bit more seclusion in your yard and want a solution that benefits the environment as well as addresses your own problems. While the majority of plants are purchased as seeds or saplings, this is not essential when purchasing hedging for your luxury garden. Mature hedging is a fantastic alternative because the majority of the labor-intensive task has already been completed for you.

Planting Some Evergreens

Planting some evergreens is a terrific way to keep your landscape looking lush and green. During the winter, gardens may rapidly start to appear empty and dreary as leaves fall from the trees, blossoms fade, and shrubs turn brown. However, planting some evergreens is a terrific way to keep yours looking as verdant as ever. While bay and holly are lovely seasonal selections that also look wonderful when added to your hedges, clematis, Leucothoe, and sarcococca are also terrific options for fall planting and will brighten up your outdoor area even when the sky are gloomy.

Put Your Gardening Equipment Aside

Gardening equipment should be stored so it may be used the next year in the best possible shape. While it may seem obvious, gardening tools like spades and trowels are frequently left outside throughout the year, and the wet weather in the fall and winter can cause rusting. As a result, dry each item carefully before storing it somewhere dry to ensure it will be in top condition when you need it again the following year. Before you do, it’s a good idea to perform some other routine maintenance, such sharpening shears and secateurs and applying linseed oil to wooden handles to prevent rot. When spring finally arrives and you can resume spending your days outside in your garden once more, you’ll be happy you set aside the time for this little task.