What You Can Do During Winter Months to Get Your Garden Ready for Spring

A New Year, a New Cycle

Aaaah, the depths of Winter have its icy claws sunk deep into our flesh.  We sit huddled under our blankets, cup of tea in hand, staring longingly out the window at our gardens, wrapped under their own blankets of snow.  While many find it difficult to think about gardening this time of year, it is actually a wonderful season for dreaming, planning, strategizing, and organizing the upcoming garden cycle.  Many farmers are actually very busy in January doing just this work.

Planning For the Thaw

This is a time for poring through seed and nursery catalogs, putting together orders, and making your purchases before the varieties you want are out-of-stock for 2022.  This can happen surprisingly early in the year. 

Of course, once the seeds and plants are purchased, planning out your growing cycle for the year can be vital.  Not only is it important for your Winter-influenced psyche, but it really helps your garden achieve its full potential, without leaving you feeling overwhelmed and running behind.  Keep an eye on this blog in the next few weeks for a full run-down on the intricacies of garden planning, including when to start plants indoors, when to seed outdoors and how to create a soil management plan to optimize soil and plant health.

Prune Them Limbs

An additional January or February task is pruning fruit trees.  A pair of (sharp!) pruners for smaller twigs, loppers or a pruning saw are the basic tools of the trade. It’s important to perform this work prior to the trees awakening and early Spring sap flow.  

Give Your Gardening Tools Some TLC

This brings to mind the thought of tools.  Another important winter task is to break out your garden tools and inspect them.  Do you have a pair of pruners or loppers that need tightening, sharpening, or oiling?  Perhaps that old shovel of yours could use a good sharpening.  Few people stop to think about the difference a sharp shovel can make.  Every time a shovel sinks into the soil, it dulls ever so slightly.  And if it is an old shovel, sharpening it up, while also scrubbing off the rust, can help it become a more efficient tool.  Or perhaps you have that garden digging fork with a cracked handle… ?  You get my meaning.  A well-conditioned and cared-for tool makes for easier work.

Lean on Jack’s to Get Growing

We’re here to help you to think ahead for the materials and supplies you will need for a successful garden year.  As we get closer to the season we will also keep you updated on the gardening supplies we have coming into the store. Don’t hesitate to stop in and chat with us about what products we can stock to help in this journey. Stay warm, dream big, plan accordingly and strategize for an amazing garden cycle to come.

What preparations are you making this winter? Let us know in the comments!