5 Ways to Prepare your Garden for Winter
We asked Garden Designer Jane Porter to give us some tips for what to do with our gardens at this time of year. Read on to discover more...
Jane uses the list pad and pen
1. Don’t tidy up too much! Leave as much dead material as you can for wildlife to shelter in over the winter.
2. Order your bulbs! It’s getting a little late but that means there may be some good last minute deals.
3. I like to mulch in Autumn as well as Spring - 5cm layer of organic materials such as compost, bark mulch, wood chip or well-rotted manure over the surface of the soil will help lock in moisture, protect tender roots from frost and improve soil structure over time.
4. Continue to deadhead roses and water containers to extend the season as late as possible.
5. Cut back lavender by about a third, making sure not to cut into harder, woody stems. This really helps extend the life of the plant by preventing straggly woody growth.
6. If you have gaps in your borders, there are many summer flowering herbaceous perennials you can divide in Autumn giving you more (free!) plants to repeat throughout the garden. Doing this every 2-3 years really helps plant vigour too.
