Winterizing Plants: 7 Tips to Winterize Gardens

To winterize plants means to initiate processes whereby you protect your plants from the harsh conditions of winter. The drying winds of winter, not to mention the cold temperatures, frost, and short days, can do a number on fruit trees, flower beds, and vegetable gardens alike. Winterizing plants helps them withstand these conditions so they’ll be able to stay in good health until the next year. In particular, new plants and young trees benefit from winterization.

Keeping your garden safe through cooler temperatures until the next spring is essential. Follow these seven gardening tips to winterize your plants:

1. 1. Add a thick layer of mulch. Place several inches of mulch—organic material like shredded leaves, sawdust, straw, and wood chips—over the soil near your plants. This helps to keep them warmer throughout the winter months into early spring. Using the remnants of a cardboard box as an artificial cover for a crop can work, too.
2. 2. Clean up your fall garden. Late fall is an optimal time to bust out your gardening tools and take care of the compost pile in your garden. Take a lawn mower to your yard to make sure you’re left with just the bare essentials for the cold winter season. Raking up dead leaves will allow you more space for new mulch. Additionally, too many dead leaves can give rodents and insects a place to find warmth and harm your plants over winter. Discard all the remnants in your compost bin.
3. 3. Feed appropriately. You should water your plants and flower beds regularly before the first frost. This ensures the root systems at the base of the plants have plenty of moisture to draw on throughout winter. Avoid fertilizing, which will, at best, be ineffective because of the plants’ dormancy, or at worst, cause them to sprout unnecessary new growth that will see damage in the winter conditions.
4. 4. Get ahead of thaw cycles. From the first frost of winter, the ground freezes and thaws routinely—and this can push plants up out of the ground. Mulching helps prevent these temperature fluctuations from doing so, as they’ll keep your plants submerged in the garden soil throughout this thawing process.
5. 5. Know your plants. Some tender plants simply can’t withstand freezing temperatures, while others can weather very cold climates—learning to tell the difference can help you as a gardener. For instance, it’s difficult to overwinter or winterize tropical plants due to their basic nature—they’re simply not adapted to colder environments. Check the USDA Hardiness Zone map to see how your plants will do in your region’s cold weather.
6. 6. Overwinter plants. Consider turning some of your outdoor favorites into houseplants for the winter—this process is overwintering. Both annuals and tender perennials—like dahlias and geraniums, respectively—do better indoors than outdoors throughout the cold season of winter, since you will have far more climate control indoors. Repot these less hardy growths from your flat or raised garden bed into containers, and enjoy your new potted plants through the winter.
7. 7. Wrap with winter protection. Insulate your plants and trees—especially any new growths—with burlap and chicken wire (or other types of wrap) to withstand winter winds, heavy snowfall, and cold temperatures. Come spring, having wrapped your plants with this kind of cold frame could pay dividends.

Grow your own garden with Ron Finley, the self-described "Gangster Gardener." Get the MasterClass Annual Membership and learn how to cultivate fresh herbs and vegetables, keep your house plants alive, and use compost to make your community—and the world—a better place.