Preparing for Winter

It will soon be time for me to start bubble wrapping or sorting out the fleece bags to wrap up some of my pots and tubs.
Then there's the mulching of some plants in the borders to do, and I'm still trying to finish painting some fencing before its too cold and damp.
I have transplanted 134 young wallflower plants to bigger cell trays today, and they will probably go out in the ground next month when I have cleared the existing petunias up.
I am only putting a few bulbs in this autumn as I have enough already, but I just want to plant some more of those frilly parrot tulips I had last year, I was very pleased with them.

What will you have to do to get your garden ready for winter?

Re: Preparing for Winter

My new garden is currently equivalent to non-existent so no preparation needed A blank canvas of lawn, so winter will be spent planning and designing my new garden

Re: Preparing for Winter

Hi mups :- my fruit trees all want winter pruning then I have 3 compost containers want emptying onto my garden and then the winter digging can commence. Oh, the lawns could do with one last mow.

Re: Preparing for Winter

I am just wondering when to take down the runner beans, there are a few sad little specimens remaining but having had frosts two nights running I doubt they will come to much. Once down I usually dig a trench under where the beans will go next year and empty the bin of the years grass cuttings in the bottom along with some horse manure then put the soil back. They rot down nicely over the winter.
Once the beans are down I will plant the garlic for next year.

The perpetual strawberries are still covered in unripe fruit, they may not ripen but I won't cut them back till winter.
The raspberries are still fruiting thought they are a summer variety so I won't be touching them yet either.

I have already cut back some of the herbs and tidied shrubs.
The summer bedding in tubs has been replaced by golden polyanthus and silver cineraria. I usually plant pansies Beconsfield Blue but they have not done well the last couple of years so I am having a change.

Today I am going to plant crocus bulbs in the rockery under the cherry tree , the mice seem to have eaten the previous ones.

Re: Preparing for Winter

I am plucking up courage to winter clean my garden shed. Most wild life manages to find their way in there and are lurking to jump out at you the minute you move a tray or a pot.

Re: Preparing for Winter

We are not doing too badly really. A lot of the pots have been emptied and put away for winter and the runner beans have been dismantled. The garden furniture has been put away and the the stone ornaments are in the shed. The spent compost has been mixed with manure and spread onto the roses and shrubs. We are still cutting the lawns and the oak tree hasn't started to drop its leaves yet, but when it does there will be an endless clearing up of leaves. We compost as many leaves as we can, but three compost bins are full already and we are running out of space for composting stuff. The lillies and the miniature daffs. have had their top dressing and are now stored down the side of the conservatory in their pots. Still loads to do before the bad weather starts.

Re: Preparing for Winter

It seems we are all busy bees at the moment then. There is so much to do, even in a small garden.
I managed to get my lawn cut today, once the dew had dried off, and caught up with dead heading the roses.

Not sure what to do with quite a few unripe tomatoes though, any ideas? Don't say green tomato chutney because I don't like chutney.

I'll be making this year's Sloe Gin soon. I know they say wait till the frost has got to the sloes, but if they're ready, I pick them and pop them in the freezer for a little while instead.

Re: Preparing for Winter

You could make a nice Green Tomatoes Soup Mups

Re: Preparing for Winter

I put my usable green tomatoes in a dish with a couple of ripe ones and they eventually turn red. They may not be good enough for salads but are OK for cooking.
I stripped my Cox's apple tree this morning and got 3 bucketsful. Just my Golden Delicious to harvest now but they don't ripen until Oct/Nov.

Re: Preparing for Winter

I have to put garden rubbish in those paper sacks at 80 pence a time. These bags used to last a couple of weeks before disintegrating but now after one quick shower or heavy morning dew the bottom crumbles and they are unusable for purpose. (not me..the sacks)

As it is a seasonal job I enjoy once I start cutting back and pruning I like to leisurly keep going and fill as many sacks as needed but now I just do a few sacks the day before rubbish colllection.

Why is everything made so much rubbishy these days