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Winterizing And The Weary Gardener

Things to do over the winter for a great garden next season.

Winterizing and the Weary Gardener

By Victoria B. Rosendahl
The Frugal Garden Guru
http://www.money-saving-garden-tips.com

Winter is the time most gardeners relax and wait. Wait for spring catalogs to arrive in the mail. While other folk may have visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads, gardeners usually have visions of gorgeous beds of vegetables and flowers floating through theirs.

While I know there are many zones and sub-zones for gardening, I typically look at gardening in America as cut into thirds: North, Central and South. And for those of us in the upper two-thirds of the country who experience cold winters, thoughts of spring bulbs poking their heads through the snow and the promise of another gorgeous garden season help us make it through those cold, lonely winter nights.

Now, if you're a gardener in the southern third of the country I would suggest that you give yourself some R&R too. Winterizing doesn't just apply to garden beds. It’s also is a much-needed retreat for gardeners.

While the holiday season is certainly a joyous time of year filled with presents and family visits, gardeners wait impatiently for January. Why? Because January is when the garden catalogs arrive in the mail.

There's nothing like curling up with gardening catalogs -- whether it's for seeds, plants or gardening tools -- while sitting in a nice toasty house in front of a fire and dreaming of gardens to come while an ice storm coats everything outside like frosting.

I love looking at all of the new seed and plant varieties, especially some of the heirloom varieties that are coming back. I usually receive about half a dozen catalogs in January and start combing through them for ideas.

Then I pull out my gardening book -- usually just one of those bound composition notebooks you can get at Wal-Mart -- and I start making notes to myself about the kinds of things I like to grow. I even cut pictures out of catalogs. Then I sit down and make out my wish list. This usually consists of different kinds of seeds I'd like to grow, possibly new roses for the rose garden and definitely new things that will make my life in the garden easier.

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#105s past year I discovered a wonderful product from Gardener's Supply Company called Garden Velcro. It's a reusable and frugal way to support your plants without hurting the stems. It comes in a 75-foot roll and costs approximately $10. On the inside of the roll is a soft piece of material and the outside is green Velcro to blend in with green stems. It’s strong and can withstand staking anything from glads to tomatoes to melon.

The cool thing about Garden Velcro is that it is truly reusable. I never used my entire 75-foot roll and, instead of cutting off new pieces next season, I'll just reuse the ones I’ve saved.

Need to replace any shears, snips, trowels or hand forks? Winter is a great time to look at your tools and decide if they need to be replaced or repaired so you’ll be ready to go come garden season.

The hardest part about winter, though, is holding back from planting too early. If you order your seeds right away as I do, you receive them in the mail in about a week to 10 days. But February is just too soon to start planting seeds either outside or under grow lights in seedling cups.

Most avid gardeners I know are like Indy car racers: the first chance to plant after the fear of frost has gone sees them hot footing it out the door to the garden. And if they’ve done their homework in the fall, the garden beds are all ready to go. It makes planting fun rather than a dull chore.

Just don't forget this Frugal Garden Guru [FGG] tip: winterizing your garden gives it a chance to recuperate and restore its energy for next season; winterizing the gardener does the same thing.

Take a season off. Go to Jamaica. Have a mai tai and let visions of gorgeous gardens dance through your head.

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Victoria Rosendahl is a freelance copywriter, novelist, and passionate gardener. Visit her website, www.money-saving-garden-tips.com, for tons of great money saving ideas for your garden or email her at victoria@money-saving-garden-tips.com.

Article Source: www.activehowto.com

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