My Top Tips for Preparing the Garden for Winter

With the first frost of autumn not far off I thought this would be an appropriate blog for this week. Fortunately I've been well organised this year and all the winter preparation is done both at home and at the nursery. This is especially important as it all needs to be done before we go away on holiday.

Plastic toggles to attach the bubble
 wrap to the greenhouse

This post was written a few years ago when I had two greenhouses, both of which were at home. We then moved to another rental house in December 2019 and I sold the wee greenhouse and moved the large one to the nursery where I used a polytunnel for the hardier tenders instead of the wee greenhouse. Still with me?  So this blog was written at our last rental house but the principals are still the same and the gunnera in the nursery is much bigger now.

The wee greenhouse tidied and
ready for wrapping

~ Clean out the greenhouse

For me this means tidying and cutting back any plants already in the greenhouse, dead heading and removing any dead leaves. Once this is done I sweep up as I'm moving the plants about, brush down the benches and shelves as I move plants and finally everything gets a good water. 

~ Putting up the bubble wrap on the greenhouses

This gives an extra layer of insulation for when it gets really cold. Although expensive to buy initially, its worth the investment. I bought bubble wrap for both greenhouses 27 years ago when I first got them, and I am still using the same bubble wrap.  Now that is money well used and it has plenty life left in it yet. Every spring once it gets taken down, its gets folded into sacks and stored in the potting shed. Toasty warm plants. The two greenhouses are once again stuffed full of plants for winter. The heater has been switched on as the temperature with its thermostat switched to about 8C.

Sorting out the big bags of bubble wrap

Wrapped and ready for the
border line plants

The wee greenhouse is filling up and still more plants to go in!

~ Check the heater works before it is needed

It's easy to forget about the heating system until it really turns cold and frosty and by then the damage to plants can be done, I know I've done it myself! If you use gas, make sure your cylinders are full and what ever source of power you use, turn the heater on and make sure it works. Then you know you just have to nip out and switch it on if the nights turn cold. The wee greenhouse doesn't get heated and is used to store plants that don't necessarily need heat over winter but more protection from cold and wet. In the big greenhouse I use an electric heater and all the tender plants and those that need a bit of warmth over winter go in there. My succulent, cacti and Pelargonium collections along with all sorts of other tender plants I've collected over the year are kept cosy over winter. I tend to keep the greenhouse just frost free as that's all these plants really need.

The big greenhouse, wrapped and filling up

Bracken keeping an eye on proceedings

~ Move any tender plants into the greenhouse

Now the greenhouses are ready it makes it easier to move all the pots in from the patio and around the garden. Before I move them into the greenhouse they get a good tidy, dead headed and cut back if required. They then go into which ever greenhouse suits their winter needs, hot or cold. Fortunately there are enough hardy plants in pots on the patio that it doesn't look to bare through winter.

The trolley is for the big pots Bracken not you!

Bracken enjoyed the bubble wrap too

The big greenhouse at the nursery 2020

~ Lifting tender plants in borders
Sometimes I plant out Pelargoniums, Dahlias, Salvias in the borders to fill in spaces and add extra interest through the year. In a mild winter up here these plants may make it through (just) but it's better to lift and pot them and encourage new growth and be able to use them again next year. 

In the nursery winter preparation is slightly different. Plants that might be vulnerable to cold and wet (especially as we are at 850 feet above sea level) are put into either the big tunnel or the wee tunnel. Because the plants are in pots this makes them more open to frost damage, so better safe than sorry for some of them. When planted because their roots are in the ground and surrounded by soil they are not at risk of damage.

The Gunnera by the stream gets it's leaves cut off and
they are used to make a protective tent over the crown of the plant

Gunnera October 2021

We put away all the demonstration planters and pots that need winter protection and the seats, ornaments and benches that benefit from being undercover. This helps prolong their life and slows down damage from the wet conditions we inevitability get here in Scotland. Some of the more tender plants in the tunnel get a couple of layers of fleece over them to keep the worst of the frost off them.

Climb every mountain!

As for the Quirky Bird gardener in winter, she is either wrapped around a heater doing paper work, stock takes, updating the website and catalogue, planning for the coming year or having extra days off, Yay! An opportunity to do Rona stuff, relax, plan for next year and hopefully a hill walk or two.

Previous winter preparation blogs Wrapping up the garden for Winter

Hopefully where ever you are the frost is still a long way off. Keep warm!

# updated October 2021

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