How to prepare your plants for winter.

After that long, hot and hectic summer your plants deserve a vacation. Letting your plants rest properly for the winter is very important. Keeping your soil and plants healthy will give you a jump start on the upcoming Spring.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Garage, Extra Time

1. You will need to remove all of your annual plants — flowers, herbs, and vegetables — and clip your green-stemmed perennials back to just above the soil. If you don’t do this the insects or disease can infest your garden.

2. Go through and remove and remaining weeds that you havn't aleady removed, and spread any type of compost over your flower beds to insulate them from winter’s freezing and thawing cycles.

3. Remove and discard plants and their potting soil from all of your containers and pots. Then store the empty pots inside your garage, basement or shed, so they won’t crack during the winter cold. If you have perennials or evergreens in pots, move them to an unheated garage or shed.

4. Last but not least you will need to drain and unhook all your garden hoses. Roll them up and store indoors to extend their life span. If you leave them outdoors during the winter they will have leftover water in them from the last time you used them and that will freeze therefore causing the hoses to crack.

[stlscientist]

on 3/6/2009 Grat article. I always bring my little Dragon's Blood babies inside during the winter.