There's a lot of snow predicted for my area today. So much for that early spring. I have to keep reminding myself that snow is a great plant insulator and it will fill the reservoirs and wells next spring. I was actually getting worried about the recent dry spell and I once again chopped up the Christmas tree to use as winter mulch.
Mulching may not be on your list of things to do at this time of year, if you live in a cold climate, but you might want to rethink that. Winter mulching makes sure that the plants you put to bed in the fall don't wake up before they're supposed to. It also helps them conserve whatever water remains in the soil during winter. And speaking of soil, winter mulch makes sure that all the things you added to your soil last season don't just wash away.
Winter mulching is about keeping the ground cold, not warm. The hard part is knowing when to do it. But for us lucky (ahem) gardeners buried under a foot or two of snow, nature has taken care of that for us. Here are some winter mulching tips for the rest of you.
Photo: © Marie Iannotti
Comments
Spot on Marie!
Should put that in capital letters for the desert regions of the world.I live in Roosevelt, Utah where the weather is dry,dry,dry! Saving water is key here, so we mulch like its going out of style. Been here for 17 years and although is isn`t as green, growing flowers and veggies is do-able if we use winter as you have outlined-thanks and keep up the good blogging
winter is 4wks in san benito tx.. iwill b setting seedlings &seeds there about joef any place special 4 seed?????
OK, Joe, don’t rub it in. There are more and more great seed catalogs every year, but for your area, I can think of 2 of my favorites: High Country Gardens and Annie’s Annuals. Great plants for hot climates, great service, nice people.
I really hadn’t thought about mulching for winter. I always put new mulch on in the spring. Of course, it’s March and we still have a few inches of snow here in Wisconsin so there’s not much I can do now!