Steps to Follow to Continue Growing Your Albuquerque Garden in the Winter

Even while winter is the perfect time to dream, plan, and get ready for the garden you’ll have the following year, you can still do things in your Albuquerque garden to ensure that it continues to thrive even through the colder months of the year. So let’s look at the actions you need to take to keep your green thumb during the most challenging part of the year.

Think about it, plot it out, and prepare for the following year.

During the winter, we look back at how our gardens developed during the year and brainstorm new ways to improve their performance in the next growing season:

1. Look over the photographs and notes you’ve collected of the garden, and then compile a list of the plants that require relocating, dividing, or being replaced.
2. Find answers to questions such as how to fix your garden’s poor soil, stop Japanese beetles from turning your roses into Swiss cheese, and deal with any other problems that have recently arisen in the park.
3. Create a list of the new plant species you want to experiment with.

Take care of these things now so you won’t have to worry about them when spring arrives, and you want to be outside working in the garden. 

Place your orders now for springtime seeds, bulbs, and plants.

Plant catalogs serve the same purpose for gardeners as the Toys “R” Us catalog for parents and children. Get a highlighter and list the things needed for next spring, or go online to place an order for plants, seeds, and bulbs in advance. You need to have your new orders and the seed packets you left over from the previous year organized to clearly understand what you need to add to the garden in the spring. 

Create a new garden bed, walkway, or feature in your outside space.

You do not need to be an artist to loosely draw out a new element that you would like to add to your garden over the next year’s growing season. On the other hand, if sketching isn’t your thing, you may try collecting photographs from the internet to explain what you want to do. Put up a raised garden bed or a portable garden close to your patio, or cultivate a garden in your mailbox. It is time for you to begin your search for a landscape contractor that will be able to assist you in achieving these objectives. If you want to avoid being at the back of the queue in the spring, you should get on their list as soon as possible. 

Get your storage shed or garage in order.

During the winter, if it does not get too cold where you live, it may be an excellent time to get all your gardening supplies out of storage and put them in order:

1. Remove all spiderwebs and clean up the debris accumulated within the shed due to your shoveling efforts throughout the season.
2. Evaluate each thing before putting it back into the space; create a pile labeled “keep” and another labeled “give or sell” and stick to them.
3. If adding extra shelves and hooks for tools would help you stay more organized, go ahead and install them.

Get your tools sharpened and oiled up.

While you have all your equipment dragged out of storage, you should take this opportunity to sharpen and oil your pruners, hedge shears, loppers, shovels, mower blades, and other items that may require maintenance the future. The rust may be removed from the edges and hinges using steel wool, and then you should thoroughly oil them to prevent any more rust from forming. Then, when spring rolls around, and it’s time to get back out into the garden, you’ll be glad you have beautiful tools that are nice and sharp to work with.

Inspect bulbs and tubers that have been kept for signs of mildew and dampness.

Suppose you store dormant bulbs or tubers, such as canna lilies, elephant ears, or tuberous begonias. In that case, you should check the contents of the container once a month to ensure that mold has not formed and that the bulbs and tubers are receiving the appropriate amount of moisture. Throw away any roots that have mold on them right away so that it doesn’t spread to the others, and spritz any seeds that have dried up with some water before putting them back in storage. 

Give any containerized plants you keep outside for the winter a good drink of water.

As with bulbs and tubers, it is essential to maintain an appropriate level of moisture around the roots of any plants that you are going to overwinter in pots outside and undercover. If the ground is not frozen, you should snow cover the top of the plants once a month or give them a slight misting of water. Even if the plants are not actively growing, you do not want their roots to get so dry that they can no longer take in moisture and nutrients. This could happen if they become too dry.

In the garden, reapply more mulch or place evergreen boughs over the sensitive plants.

Winter mulch is beneficial for newly planted perennials, young broadleaf evergreens such as azaleas, and plants that are on the verge of being hardy in your zone. You may enhance the possibility that the plants will survive the winter and that they will not heave out of the ground during freeze/thaw cycles if you insulate the roots of the plants and screen their leaves from the winter winds. In the early spring, you should remove the winter mulch so the plants may resume their average growth.

If required, reapply the animal repellant that you have.

After the luscious green foliage and fall fruits have been consumed, deer, rabbits, and other garden pests will seek nourishment in the form of woody plants and roots. After all, even in the cold, they still need to eat. Therefore, always look for indications of damage on the bark and at the base of young trees, low-branched shrubs, and evergreen plants. Pay particular attention to the areas where the bark meets the floor. Reapplying animal repellant throughout the winter is essential to avoid further damage.

Keep heated water features and bird baths in good working order.

If you have a heater put in your pond or bird bath to offer a source of clean water for birds during the winter, you will need to watch it to ensure that it does not freeze over. Because heaters tend to break down during the winter’s harshest months, you must take extra precautions to protect your precious koi fish and the birds’ water supply. If ice does develop across the pond, carefully create a hole in it or pour boiling water over a specific region to break it up and ensure that oxygen can continue to circulate.