What to do in the garden in winter?

For those who have a green hand and enjoy pampering their vegetable garden, winter can seem like a very hollow period... If that's the impression it gives you, think again: there are as many tasks to do this season as there are in spring or summer! Put on your coat, boots and gloves: here are some tips to help you maintain your garden, even in January.

Pick up and use dead leaves

If you naturally think about picking them up in autumn,you don't necessarily think about ridding your garden of dead leaves in winter... Just because they fall into smaller quantities doesn't mean they can't become a scourge!

Indeed, in addition to giving an unsyt aesthetic appearance to the garden, they deprive the lawn and soil of oxygen and light, and the diseased leaves contribute to the spread of diseases.

The solution? Think about picking them up regularly!

This will prevent them from forming too much organic matter, and you will have enough to straw many fragile plants. To do this, avoid taking the leaves to the nearest garbage dump and place them at the foot of shrubs and beds to help them through the winter.

Working the land while it is soft

Winter is also the ideal time to ventilate the earth: the season goes hand in hand with cold and humidity, the soil becomes more flexible... This makes the handling of the spade (for the old of the old who apply the traditional method) or the grelinette (for lovers of the technique without ploughing, TSL, much easier). Break the clods, bring lightness!

The crops and plants in the garden require less work than usual, it is also the time to treat weeds... Take the time to get the roots out: this will allow you to find a healthy land in which to grow delicious vegetables when the weather returns.

Plant, harvest, protect vegetables

If crops are usually associated with spring, winter is the ideal time to plant vegetables such as salsify, tarragon, or some varieties of shallots.

In addition, it is also the period during which delicious cabbages, leeks and Jerusalem artichokes are harvested. Garden products are always welcome on the plate once processed into soup or puree.

As for the fruits, we do not harvest as greedy in summer as by winter temperatures ... But we still find some. Say goodbye to strawberries, bite into an apple, and put vitamins into your daily routine by growing colorful beets: between the white and pink, orange yellow or bright red varieties, you're spoilt for choice!

If you have a frame greenhouse,now is the time to install it over your carrots, parsley and herbaceous cousins. Especially by surrounding the windows of the Styrofoam greenhouse, an overly aggressive jelly can be fatal to these vegetables and jeopardize your future harvests.

Mulching and wintering: winter allies

It can never be repeated enough, but mulching is still the best way to protect garden plants from winter temperatures. If the principle is simple - it is simply a matter of covering the soil with organic or mineral matter in order to protect it from the cold - there are many different types of mulch.

What do they have in common? Form a foot cover for the most fragile winter vegetables, shrubs and plants, to which you can match a wintering veil if you haven't already done so. The goal is to help the garden ecosystem survive the rain and cold!

Make a good winter size

Winter is the ideal time to freshen up your fruit trees, such as pear or apple trees: prune the main branchesby removing 1/3, and reduce the secondary branches by a few buds.

If this task seems as physical as it is ungrateful, remember that it contributes to the good health of your garden: by removing dead wood, you eliminate potential pests, and allow healthy branches to flourish.

Beware, however, of the most fragileplants, which it is best not to prune if they are to avoid suffering from frost.

Preparing for the arrival of spring

If you are facing several days of inclement weather making gardening or other outdoor activities complicated, you can simply think about landscaping your garden in preparation for next summer.

For example, you can think:

• To the plants you want to add;
• Vegetables that make you salivate;
• In the plans of a new sprinkler system...

In short, what you want to change or improve, and it's up to you to play!

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