What to do in your winter garden

When we think of winter we often think cold rainy days, tucked up inside by the fire with a hot cup of soup. But not all winter days are so cold and rainy!

And on those sunny, fresh winter days there is so much you can do outside in your garden – it’s actually one of the best seasons to get some of those garden jobs done.

Planting // 

Lots of plants prefer to be planted in winter because they are going through winter dormancy and therefore have plenty of time to establish before summer. Deciduous trees, fruit trees and roses are probably the most well-known for winter plantings. Barossa Nursery has a great range of bare rooted trees and roses.Bare rooted means much cheaper plants and it’s when we have our biggest range available.

Who doesn’t love a bargain! Winter is when seed potatoes become available – home grown potatoes taste AMAZING and they produce heaps! Other produce plants for winter plantings include: garlic, asparagus, rhubarb and raspberry canes. You’ll thank yourself later in the year when you’re harvesting the best tasting home grown crops!

Pruning // 

Once again this applies mainly to deciduous trees, shrubs and roses. Once they have dropped all their leaves it’s a good idea to prune and shape your trees and to give your roses a good hard prune. Removing branches facing inwards on fruit trees and roses helps to reduce disease and ensures even ripening on your fruit. To be aware some plants don’t like to be pruned in winter. As a general rule of thumb, if it’s not deciduous, don’t prune it in Winter because the outer foliage of other plants is often what protects them from frost burn and extreme cold. Prune these other plants in early Spring or after they finish their Spring flowering, once the risk of frost has passed.

Spraying // 

Spray your deciduous fruit trees (mainly peaches and nectarines and apricots) with Lime Sulphur OR copper oxychloride and white oil. This helps to stop fungal problems for the year ahead such as leaf curl, apricot freckle and shot hole. Spray for weeds on a fine day. With the cooler weather and increased rain, come more weeds in the garden.

Wait for a sunny day when no rain in expected for eight hours. Try not to spray weeds in windy weather as it can blow the weed spray onto other plants and kill them. If you don’t like to use chemicals on your garden there is also a natural weed spray available at the Nursery.

Feeding // 

Usually plants slow their growth right down in winter and because of the cold don’t tend to take up many nutrients. Seamungus is the exception in terms of feeding in the winter. It’s like the pelletised form of the well known Seasol and helps to thicken the cell wall of plants’ leaves and make them more resistant to the cold.

It is also great health booster for the garden to get it through the winter months. Even though it’s cold, rugging up and getting outside in the garden makes you feel so warm inside. It’s a great way to boost your mood and get some much needed garden jobs done. So go on, get outside and enjoy the stark beauty of the winter garden.

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For more great ideas and advice, checkout the following articles from Kristee.

Kristee Semmler of The Barossa Nursery