This Thursday, we finished fully winterizing the garden. This meant tearing out all of the plants that were or would soon be dying because of the frost, like the lettuce, deadheading perennials like our marigolds, replacing old mulch, and generally cleaning away debris that could rot or get filled with pest eggs or disease spores. It was a bit like spring cleaning, only in November. We collected the debris to compost later.
We also planted a variety of daffodil bulbs, since bulbs can grow under the soil during winter and won't perish. In order to keep pests and rodents from digging up the bulbs and eating them, as they are wont to do, we used rat poison. Just kidding! We did not use rat poison! Instead, we used cayenne pepper, which is a deterrent to pests, and is not harmful to people, unless it gets into their eyes (the latter possibility did become something of a problem.)
Here's a passage on what's going on in your garden during the winter, taken from our handout on winterization.
While it appears as if all activity in the garden has stopped, there's a lot going on under the soil until it freezes. Newly transplanted trees and shrubs, divisions of perennials, and hardy bulbs are all growing roots, drawing on soil nutrients and moisture around them. earthworms and various microbes in the soil are still processing the organic material they're finding. Most likely, the organic mulch you spread to protect the soil has substantially decomposed. It's important to spread new mulch now--a thicker winter layer--to protect plants and soil over the winter months. The idea is not to much to keep the soil warm as it is to keep the temperature even. Once the soil is frozen, mulch keeps it frozen. Snow both protects and endangers plants.
Hopefully we'll get some pictures of our winterization up soon!
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