Winterizing your garden: a checklist with 18 tips

When the gardening season comes to an end in autumn, the gardening work is far from over. Now it’s time to make some preparations for the winter. In our checklist you will find 15 valuable tips to make your garden winter-proof.

Protect and care for plants

Especially when temperatures drop, it is important to take care of the plants in the garden. There is a lot of work that needs to be done before the first frost comes. You can find out what these are here.

Cut down trees

Anyone who has been waiting since the summer for the right moment to fell a tree can do so again by law from June 30th without a special permit. September. Due to its increasing humidity, autumn offers ideal conditions for felling trees because the soil moisture makes it easier to remove the roots. In addition, removing leaves beforehand makes work easier and trees contain less sap, which means the clippings can be easily used for burning.

Here are some tips that you should also pay attention to:

• Some tree felling requires a felling permit despite the end of the breeding season
• take safety-relevant factors into account
• If you are inexperienced, it is better to hire professionals

Do tree painting

Painting the tree with white/light lime paint is a valuable tip to get rid of sources of infection cracked bark due to strong temperature fluctuations and cold combined with sunlight avoid. Due to the brightness, the solar radiation is reflected and there is no voltage. Young trees in particular are susceptible to this, which is why their trunks should definitely be painted with lime in autumn.

Collect fallen fruit and leaves

It is particularly important to remove leaves and fallen fruit in autumn. Fallen fruit offers ideal conditions for overwintering unwanted pests and pathogens. Leaves obscure plants. This means that less or no light can reach plants. Leaves quickly become a slippery hazard on walking surfaces. But leaves shouldn't just be thrown away because they can be put to beneficial use.

Here's how you can use the remaining leaves for another purpose:

• Can be ideally used as cold protection for sensitive plant roots (especially for potted plants that are more susceptible to cold)
• Easily incorporated into soil, acts as a valuable fertilizer
• Distribute several piles of leaves in the garden as a protected winter quarters for animals such as hedgehogs

Cut back plants

Autumn is the ideal time to cut back various trees, shrubs, bushes and perennials. But be careful, because the beds can quickly appear bare. Therefore, evergreen plants should be handled carefully and not cut off too much.

It is also important to pay attention to which plants develop flower buds in autumn. These ornamental trees and ornamental trees that generally bloom in spring should not be cut back in autumn.

For some specimens, however, autumn pruning is important so that they can collect enough energy for the winter and grow strong and healthy the following year.

For example for the following plants:

• Roses
• Fruit trees (preservation and thinning pruning are particularly important)
• Aquatic and shore plants
• lavender
• Fruiting bushes such as blackberries and gooseberries
• Hedges with, for example, firethorn and cherry laurel

Close interfaces

Fresh interfaces always pose an increased risk of infectious diseases, which is why they should be closed.

The following are best suited for this:

• Charcoal ash
• tree resin
• candle wax

Plant plants and bulbs

Autumn is the best time to plant various hardy and winter or early spring bloomers. Although the latter can still be planted as bulbs in a frost-free winter, autumn planting is more advantageous because it is done and the first flowers appear earlier.

These include plant species like these:

• Flower bulbs like Tulips, daffodils, crocuses and snowdrop
• Roses
• Fruit trees and bushes
• Softwoods

Autumn bloomers:

Some autumn plants provide a little color in the usually dark autumn and can be planted in the bed or in pots on the terrace at short notice even in autumn. For example, the following are suitable:

• Yellow coneflower
• Autumn anemones
• Autumn asters
• Garden-Chrysanthemums

Protect plants from frost

There are numerous plants that are only partially hardy. If temperatures fall well below zero degrees Celsius, they should be provided with appropriate cold protection in autumn.

While plants in the bed are protected from the icy cold by thick layers of earth and a maximum of the surface and above-ground parts of the plant need to be covered Potted plants also provide protection from below against ground frost.

Straw, leaves, pine needles, brushwood and special fleece serve as excellent above-ground protection against the cold for bedding and potted plants. There are a few things you can do to insulate the soil of potted plants, but not everything is advisable in every situation.

Here's what you can use:

• Cardboard: Softens quickly due to moisture, so can only be used in rain-protected locations
• Styrofoam: Although it is not 100 percent dimensionally stable, it can withstand the effects of the weather well
• Wooden board: holds up to moisture longer than cardboard, but eventually swells; Mold formation is possible, so can only be used in places protected from the rain
• Euro pallet: very moisture-resistant, durable, stable, dimensionally stable, no mold formation because water drainage is possible

Move frost-sensitive plants to their winter quarters

Once autumn has come, it is time to relocate frost-sensitive plants to suitable winter quarters.

To prevent any problems, these tips should be taken into account before moving:

• Check for pests before moving and combat them if necessary
• Cut off dead, damaged plant parts
• To be on the safe side, overwinter sick-looking plants in isolation

Prepare vegetable beds

Once the beds in your garden have been harvested in the fall, they should be well prepared and winterized for the following season. This particularly applies to beds that have been used for home cultivation for a long time and/or through Heavy feeder were exposed to high levels of stress.

However, you should only loosen the surface with a sow tooth or digging fork and avoid digging. As a result, masses of microorganisms that are essential for fertile soil would die and would not be able to resettle until the following year.

Additionally, these measures are recommended:

• Remove root residues, weeds and stones
• Fertilize compost

Maintain lawn

In autumn the lawn gets its last care measures of the year. Because it tends to get increasingly wetter in the fall, it should “Benefit of the hour” can be used on a few rain-free days. This means that walking on and working on lawns can result in damage to the turf less risky and easier to work with than on wet, heavy soils grasses.

The following lawn work should be done in mid/late October:

• mow (not shorter than 4 cm to protect against the cold)
• Scarify after hot summer and heavy load
• To strengthen it for cold winters, fertilize with potassium-rich fertilizer
• Spread lawn seeds in bare areas
• Remove mossto prevent spread

Other protective measures

Not only do plants need our attention again in the fall before the cold season, but objects, garden ponds, greenhouses and the like also need winter protection.

Winterize your garden pond

The pond season also ends in autumn and the preparation for the wintering of Pond plants, fish and other pond life is required.

These tasks must be carried out on and in the pond before the first frost:

• Ensure oxygen supply using a filter pump or alternatively a circulation pump
• Obtain a replacement pump if active pumps freeze
• Clean the filter system and store it frost-free or cover it with polystyrene sheets or move it to frost-free winter storage
• Inspect all hoses and connections for damage
• Place straw, pampas grass stalks or similar in bunches vertically in the pond water so that they protrude above the water surface (to avoid complete freezing)
• Cut pond and bank plants
• Feed fish last time (leftover food contributes to water contamination)

Store tools, equipment and garden accessories correctly

Until the first frost in the fall, all tools and equipment must be moved outside to a frost-free location.

Some tips for storage:

• Thoroughly clean, dry and disinfect all tools and equipment
• Sharpen blades and cover for storage
• Inspect each part for damage and, if necessary, add spare parts to the shopping list
• Treat wooden handles with care oil
• Oil screws, joints, rotating mechanisms and chains
• Remove removable batteries and store them indoors
• Empty the water hoses completely and allow them to dry before storing
• Dismantle the plastic faucet adapter

Protect the rain barrel and pool from the weather

Water in rain barrels and pools poses various dangers in winter. In addition to burst containers and defective pumps, there is also the risk of drowning for many animals.

These tips should therefore be taken into account in autumn:

• For above-ground pools, always drain the water completely, clean it, let it dry and store it frost-free
• For pools that remain outside, drain the water to 1/2 or a maximum of 1/3 for “static” and pressure reduction
• For the same reason, empty rain barrels halfway
• Dismantle the pumps, dry them together with the hoses and store them away from dust
• Place straw, branches or stalks in it to prevent the water surface from completely freezing
• Close containers/pools tightly or cover them in a storm-proof manner; This means no animals can fall in

Clean/maintain garden furniture

If you want to make your garden winter-proof, you should move garden furniture to a dry, frost-free place in good time in autumn, when it becomes increasingly humid, until next spring. It is important not to do this without prior care, as damage, functional limitations and a shortened lifespan can result.

That's why these measures are recommended for garden furniture in autumn:

• thorough cleaning with a brush
• oiling joints and rotating mechanisms
• Remove rust
• dry before storage
• Store furniture covered
• Tips for wooden garden furniture:
• Remove splinters and sand off any unevenness
• If the surface is heavily soiled, roughen it
• Paint with special wood care oil
• Apply wood impregnation

Tips for iron garden furniture:

• Sand surfaces, especially if paint is damaged or chipped
• Check for cracks and close them if necessary
• Apply paint with rust protection

Tips for plastic garden furniture:

• Clean with a special plastic cleaner or baking soda (remove dark spots and gray haze)
• For stubborn dirt, mix vinegar essence with water in a ratio of 1:5 and wash off with a soft cotton cloth
• Special plastic polish for smoothing roughened and dull surfaces
• Be sure to choose a shady winter spot

Take wind protection measures

Autumn is more often accompanied by strong winds or storms. That's why it's now time to check everything in the garden for strength and ensure adequate wind protection measures.

Here are some tips:

• Trellises
• Posts for tree stabilization
• fences
• dead branches
• Outdoor lamps
• Plant pots
• Garden decoration
• Garbage cans and bike racks
• Shutters of garden sheds
• Cold protection for plants

Glasshouse

To ensure that the greenhouse in the garden survives the winter well and is ready for use again in early spring, you must make it winter-proof. It is important to ensure that vegetables can be grown in the greenhouse even in winter.

The following measures should be taken:

• clean thoroughly
• Enrich unplanted soil with compost
• Check for damage and repair if necessary
• Check seals
• Close water inlets and empty water hoses
• In heated greenhouses, refill the heating system and, if necessary, heating oil/gas

Outdoor faucets

To ensure that outside taps do not crack due to frost and water pipes do not burst, the water supply to them must be turned off at the main taps in the house. The outside tap must then be turned on so that the remaining water can drain away.

Paths and access roads

Frost, ice and snow can come unexpectedly overnight. That's why you should have a few things on hand and in stock if you want to prepare your garden for winter.

Therefore these tips:

• Store brooms and snow shovels within easy reach and check used devices for damage
• Buy or provide spreading materials such as gravel and salt

frequently asked Questions