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Winter Gardening Tips

Well winter has finally arrived since the weather has turned cold, the ground outside is frozen and our outside gardening work has slowed down for a few months. However, just because we can’t do as much as we would like to outdoors doesn’t mean your gardening activities need to come to a halt. In order for your garden to be successful next season there are several things I would recommend you work on over the winter.

how-to-plan-your-vegetable-gardenReflect and plan ahead: Think back to this past growing season and make a list of what worked well in your garden or containers and what did not work. Where were they located? Would they work better in another location in your yard? Here are a couple of titles in our Lawn & Garden neighborhood collection you may want to check out to get you started, Step-by-step ultimate yard & garden, A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants.If you can’t find your answer in the books in our stacks, you can always call our Lawn & Garden librarian 785-580-4400 or the Shawnee County Master Gardeners 785-232-0062.

Speaking of the Shawnee County extension office, you may want to have your soil tested to see if you will need to modify it next spring. Click on the links for more information on soil testing in Shawnee County and their office hours and location.

In addition to planning and having your soil tested. Do you plan to grow your plants from seed or order plants online? If so, now is the time to look at gardening magazines which our library also has available for checkout or catalogs and online plant stores. When you are ordering online, you don’t want to wait until the last minute to order otherwise they may be out of the seeds you want, plus you may miss out on the early-bird discounts many online seed and plant stores offer. Another suggestion would be if you have friends, relatives or acquaintances that have perennials that you like, suggest a plant swap.

Bird

Last, but not least don’t forget our feathered friends this winter. By feeding the birds in our yard we can enjoy their beauty as well as help keep the ecosystem in balance since they eat the insects from our yards.

 
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