Although it is springtime, here in sunny South Africa, our friends overseas, are preparing for the winter months. Some people believe that when the weather starts getting colder and the leaves start to fall, it is time to put away the gardening tools and wait until next spring, to work on their garden again. Wrong. Winter is an important time, to maintain your garden’s health and assure yourself, of a good crop, for next year. You may think, that it might take too long, to prepare your garden, but the truth is, that it takes less than one day, to prepare your garden for the upcoming winter.

When the night time temperatures drop to less than forty-five degrees Fahrenheit, for more than four days in a row, or frost is forecast for your area (usually around late October or November) you know it’s time, to begin preparing your garden. You should begin, by evaluating your garden design, check which plants grew well in the past season, and which plants did not do well. Fall is a good time, to decide which plants will remain, in you garden next year, and which ones should go.

It is also a good time, to decide which new plants, you want to grow. To make your garden more colourful and healthy, be sure only to plant the more hardy plants, during the fall, so that they can withstand the winter. Some plants that will do fine, being planted in fall, are: rudbeckia, Aster Novi-belgii, Anemone Japonica, panicle hyandea, endive, escarole, and Brussels sprouts. You can find all of these and more, in gardening magazines, or your local nursery.

After you have finished this, you should begin cleaning up your garden. Begin by pulling out weeds that may have cropped up, and raking fallen leaves. Weeds and rotten leaves can carry insects and diseases, that might be harmful to your garden. You should also rid your garden of spent annual plants, and harvest your vegetables and other plants, that cannot withstand the winter weather. After fall has come and gone, the leaves will be off your trees and you can see the rotten branches. Trimming off the unwanted branches, from your trees, isn’t necessary, to your gardens health, but may help later on, by not dropping branches, on your plants and not blocking too much of the sun.

If you have younger trees, you should consider wrapping them and supporting them with stakes, to help them survive the winter wind and cold. Putting mulch over your garden, for the winter, can be a helpful way, to protect plants from sudden temperature changes and heavy snow. For mulch, you can use about five inches of shredded bark, pine needles, or a variety of other materials. You have to be careful, not to mulch too early, because some insects may still be alive and able to take shelter in it, for the winter.

Once you are finished with your gardening tools, you should clean them and make sure they are in a safe place, where they won’t rust and where you know they’ll be, for next year. Before winter comes, you should always set out slug repellent, as slugs are one of the worst bugs to have, in your garden. If you have a pool, or fountain in your garden, be sure to take out any fish that you have in them and bring them inside. There’s nothing sadder, than a fish frozen in a block of ice.

So, in order to have a garden that you are proud of in the summer months, there is work to be done now. If you long to have a beautiful garden, whether that means flowers, or vegetables, indoors, or out, this book should be of real value to you. The book called The Gardener’s Handbook will give you lots more advice. This is the secret to having a beautiful garden. It is available here http://dersalsites.com/ghand/

Sally Robson is an up and coming, South African internet marketer, with a vision of empowering all fellow South Africans and non U.S folk, to have equal opportunity and success on the internet. She and her husband Derek, have started a string of sites, resources, courses and articles, as part of Dersalsites. She also has a passion for gardening.

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