If you love gardening, you may think that you have to restrict yourself to only doing it when the weather is warm and sunny, such as during the spring and summer. But the truth is that you can actually garden throughout every season of the year, even into December and the winter.
To learn how to go about doing so, check out the gardening tips for December below. In this way, you can continue connecting with nature even when the weather is cold and the leaves are gone from the trees.
Protect Your Plants with Mulch
Once the first frost has occurred, it’s time to add a layer of pine bark mulch that has been finely shredded, or some pine straw, to the shrubs and trees throughout your garden. The layer should be about two inches thick to provide optimal protection from the cold.
If you don’t have shredded pine bark or pine straw, you can instead use the leaves that have fallen off the trees and are naturally found in your backyard. Simple rake them using a leaf blower, so that they’re in a pile and then use your lawn mower to chop them up before spreading the leaves all around the plants. This will also protect them from the elements throughout the winter so they can remain strong and be ready when spring returns. If you want to know more about leaf blowers that can be used in winters, look out for sites like, The Best Leaf Blowers (https://thebestleafblowers.com/toro-51619-ultra-blower-vac/) that talks about different types and models.
Replace Dead Grass with Artificial Options
Today’s artificial grass looks realistically beautiful, and you can incorporate it throughout your garden so you can always have a lush green lawn even when the lawn would otherwise be dried out and brown from the winter’s harsh elements.
Start Filling Up Bird Feeders
To bring some wildlife into your yard and beautify your garden throughout the winter, particularly in December, you can add new bird feeders throughout your outdoor space.
Make sure that they’re filled on a regular basis, and place them wherever you can actually enjoy a great view of the birds and critters, such as squirrels, that visit for some much-needed sustenance during this very tough season.
You can even go a step further to help your local wildlife by adding birdhouses and bird baths to the mix, especially since water can be scarce in the winter.
Know How to Deal with Ice and Snow
To avoid damaging your delicate plants with snow and ice in December, make sure that you blow or shovel snow across your planting beds evenly. You can do the same around foundation plantings. Never heap any snow from the roadside onto your planting areas because it likely contains a lot of road salt that could be detrimental to the health of your plants. If any snow does accumulate on your shrubs and trees, be sure to remove it using up-sweeping, gentle motions, rather than banging on branches. Keep in mind that branches that are frozen are also a lot more likely to break and snap.
When it comes to getting rid of ice, stick with letting it melt naturally from any branches. This is because trying to break the ice off the branches will probably result in breaking them instead of helping them. You can even use ice-melting gardening products that you should purchase early on in the season to ensure they’re in stock. Just be sure to avoid any products that contain calcium chloride or sodium chloride, as these are damaging to plants. Stick with potassium-based options, as well as those that are safe for animals and pets, for the best results.
Never use fertilizers to melt ice, as this will result in nitrogen runoff that could end up damaging nearby bodies of water. Instead of focusing on melting ice, create traction using sand, non-clumping cat litter, or wood ashes.
Tips for Spring Bulbs and Fruit Trees
If you still have some spring bulbs that you need to plant in December, make sure that you get them into the ground as soon as you can, provided that the soil isn’t frozen. And if you have any fruit trees in your garden, make it a point to collect and dispose of remaining nuts or fruits on the trees and on the ground to reduce disease risk.
With these gardening tips, you can continue enjoying the wonder of the natural world right in your own backyard even in December, when the days are short and the temperatures drop. Following these steps will also ensure that your garden will be in the best shape when you’re ready to start planting seeds again, as well as when you’re ready to see your perennials return in the spring.