The holidays are long over and we’ve settled into the coldest part of the year. January and February can feel endless and dark, but once in a while we’re graced with a mild weekend. Do yourself a favor on many levels and get outside into the garden! You’ll get your blood pumping again and also take care of some things that will make gardening in spring easier and tons more fun.
Here are 10 things you can do in the garden this winter. My next post will include 10 more!
1. Prune dead branches
While most of your tree and shrub pruning should happen in late winter and spring (sometimes summer), pruning dead wood can happen all year long with no ill effects to the plant. Winter is the perfect time to spot dead branches. Once the leaves pop back out, it’s a lot more difficult.
2. Cut back ornamental grasses
I always say I’m leaving my ornamental grasses (miscanthus, fountain grasses, etc.) standing in the fall for winter interest, but really, I’m just a bit lazy, and then the snow falls, and my grasses look smushed and horrible. I’m determined to cut them down on the next warm day once and for all.
Don’t wait too late to do this task—you’ll want to have them cut back before any sight of new growth appears in spring to avoid stubby tips.
3. Sow poppy seeds
As I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again, SOW SOME POPPY SEEDS! The seeds are cheap, and you can just toss them onto bare soil in January and February (or places with bare soil that are covered in snow). Poppies seeds love a cold, damp period before they germinate—they’ll still germinate if you sow them in spring, but not as well.
4. Finish raking
No matter how diligent you were in the fall, by now, stray leaves have drifted into your garden beds and other nooks and crannies. When you have a snow-free moment, rake them out before your perennials sprout and it gets a lot harder.
5. Refresh your landscape lighting
Combat the gloomy nights that are still beginning around 5pm by assessing where you need more lighting: along paths, near the back door, etc. The selection of low voltage landscape lights in the local home stores has gotten better and better these past few years, but I’m also a huge fan of solar string lights on arbors and trellises and little potted evergreens. They’re cheap, easy, and so charming.
6. Make an evergreen bouquet
Snip a branch or two of each of the evergreens in your garden and arrange a vase for your kitchen table. That little bit of greenery will cheer up your home so much.
7. Plant Amaryllis bulbs
If you still have some bulbs lingering around the house like I do, pot them up already! (I’m looking at myself here…) If not, some of the mail-order flower bulb companies still have some dormant Dutch varieties (as opposed to the South African varieties that start sprouting before Christmas) in stock at deep discounts.
You’ll just have to wait until there is a warm spell for them to ship so that they don’t freeze in transit. They are the ULTIMATE winter pick-me-up. If you have/get them and STILL don’t find the motivation….you can plant them in the garden after the last frost date and stymy your friends!
8. Order dahlia tubers
Along with all of the seed catalogs flooding into your mailbox about now you might also have gotten a dahlia catalog or two. If not, search out some mail-order sources online. Varieties of flower and vegetable seeds rarely go out of stock, but dahlia varieties do, so order your favorites early so you’re ready to pot them up when the time comes. As with most things horticultural, the ones you buy mail-order are almost always way better quality compared to the ones you can pick up in a big box store.
9. Organize the tool shed
My shed needs this every couple of years. By the end of the season, I’ve just shoved everything back in willy nilly and it’s a mess. On a somewhat warm day, get out there and get organized now while you cannot be distracted by green things popping up all around you. You’ll be so, so happy when you open that shed door in April.
10. Sharpen pruners
It’s shocking how much easier it is to prune when your pruners are nice and sharp and clean. There are oodles of sharpening kits available online for this oh-so-satisfying task.
By Michelle Gervais
Michelle Gervais is a horticulturist from northwestern Connecticut by way of southwestern Virginia, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Virginia Tech. She spent 15 years traveling the country and learning from incredibly talented gardeners as a senior editor at Fine Gardening magazine, followed by a decade marketing flower bulbs and seeds for a trio of mail-order companies.
She is the author of The Design-Your-Garden Toolkit (Storey Publishing) and currently serves as Public Programs & Outreach
Manager at Innisfree Garden in Millbrook, New York—and is a huge fan of Womanswork.
