How to Prepare for Your Spring Garden in the Dead of Winter

It can be hard to think about your spring garden when it’s below freezing, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Cold weather is the perfect time for planning. It’s also the perfect time to assess challenges you ran into last growing season, learn more about what works best in your growing zone, and come up with a plan so next season’s garden is your best ever. Take my Gardening Self-Assessment to get started and then read on.

Perhaps you’re thinking (like I might have perhaps thought in the past) that you can just grab a few packs of seeds from the local hardware store or superstore in April or so, put them in the ground, and you’ll see something come up in a few months.

Well, you’re mostly wrong.

You definitely can grow food during the cooler months! It’s not rocket science, but it does require some thought and planning.

What to Do in the Fall For Your Spring Garden

These are tasks to complete before it freezes (or at least quickly after the first frost).

1. Remove and discard diseased parts of plants. But not into the compost! (If you put them into the compost, the weeds could sprout up wherever you use the compost later.
2. Mulch over any plants that might be susceptible to the cold (about 8″ deep), including over-wintering vegetables such as carrots, so they are still alive in the spring.
3. Test your soil if you’re uncertain of its health. Simple soil test kits tell you pH and nutrient levels. You can add nutrients as needed. This step can also be performed in spring, though.
4. Make sure all beds are composted or mulched. For my raised beds, I add a thick layer of compost, then cover that with a floating row crop cover to protect from frost and prevent compaction. Over the winter, nutrients in the compost slowly filter down into the soil. It still lets rain and sun through but keeps the soil warmer allowing me to plant sooner in spring. The worms love this! You can also start your compost stash inside the house using a compost pail with a charcoal filter. It controls odors until you can empty it outdoors.
5. Clean up, maintain, and properly store garden tools and equipment. Note any that need to be replaced. If you need a new set of good-quality hand tools like the ones in this kit, add it to your Christmas list!
6. Repair or take in to be fixed any garden tools in need of significant repairs.
7. Start a wish list of gifts you would like. The holidays are approaching! Things you can use for your spring garden are great gift suggestions for others.

Planning For Next Spring

8. Order seed catalogs. There are multiple good companies, so go ahead and order a few. You may be surprised by what you find. Really good catalogs will have your mouth watering and you itching to start digging in the dirt. A couple of my own favorites are Seeds of Change and Baker Creek. Remember: if you want to save the seeds from the plants to grow new plants in the future, you almost certainly will want heirloom varieties.
9. Decide if you want to use cold frames or another technique to extend your growing season. Plan and build accordingly, if you want to go for it.
10. Start diagramming/planning what you want where. Once you have a very general plan – vegetable garden, herb garden, annuals, perennials, bushes, and trees planned out – it’s time to start getting more specific. A journal specifically designed for gardeners will give you room to plan your garden, journal your efforts, and then make notes about what worked and what didn’t. Not to mention I can’t remember this stuff from one year to the next. I refer to mine frequently when planning my spring garden. It’s my gardening brain!
11. Check the viability and test germination of any seeds you have on hand.
12. When planning, start with the plants that take the longest to mature and will be there for the longest – the trees. Next, come bushes, then perennials including any perennial herbs, annuals including vegetables, and finally any potted plants. The last would be plants that can’t survive in your area that you really want. In my case, I have some potted chamomile and an aloe plant that I bring in during the winter. Other people have lemon trees, but it could be almost anything.
13. Ask these questions for trees, bushes, perennials, and annuals:

• • Do you want to plant any new ones?
  • What kind?
  • How will planting these affect other plants you’ll put nearby? If you put in a tree that gets very wide, you probably won’t want to plant bushes or anything long-lasting near it. However annual flowers could do great and provide a nice pop of color!
  • Are there any other plants that cannot coexist with it?
  • What plants do really well with it?
  • Where do you want them on your lot? You may realize that you want a vegetable garden near the driveway, but you need some bushes between it and your teenage driver.

14. Start picking out what you want! I think this is the most fun. I can totally lose myself in seed catalogs.

Things to Remember When Picking Plants

15. Decide what you are looking for and why. I like unusual varieties of common plants, like yellow carrots or banana melons. You might prefer more traditional orange carrots. This article with advice from a master gardener may help you make these decisions.
16. Do you want to involve your kids? My youngest loves picking out plants. It makes him crazy-happy to pick out, plant, nurture, and (sometimes) eat plants. There are areas in the garden with nothing planned so he can put whatever makes him happy. And yes, sometimes he decides on a spot I know isn’t good or that makes me a bit crazy. But it still goes there unless I have a really good reason not to – like it’s right exactly where the mower will kill it.
17. Don’t forget to check which grow zone you live in. Your county or state extension service might have more detailed information available, or ask at a local nursery, to get the best information.
18. If you plant an herb garden, be sure to check which weeds are considered weeds or pests in your area. I planted lemon balm, which can go crazy, but I made sure to plant it where the driveway, a brick walk, and the house formed three sides, containing it a bit. (It’s apparently a member of the mint family, and they all grow like crazy pretty easily.) Yarrow is also considered a weed, but not invasive like lemon balm. So, to me, as a not-so-active-gardener, that just means yarrow will be harder for my chronic neglect to kill.
19. Think about what you actually use and eat. I planted about 8 oregano plants a few years ago and they grew great – but I rarely use oregano in my cooking. The scent of lavender is a favorite and it’s a slight bug repellant, so I’ve planted a bunch of that around the house. I’m interested in herbal remedies, so I planted yarrow, several kinds of mint, and chamomile. The last two are potted. One, so it doesn’t spread and take over everything, the other because it can’t survive a winter outside in our climate.

What Steps to Take in Mid-Winter

20. Consider the weather – Is it an unusually cold or snowy winter? Or is it mild? If it’s mild, then you probably don’t need to do anything extra for your plants. However, if it’s a really cold or snowy year, you might want to protect your plants better. Last year, I lost almost all of the strawberry plants that I had nurtured from a few starts over the previous four years! A layer of mulch over the top of them would have kept the cold out and the plants alive, even though they didn’t need it in previous warmer winters.
21. Take advantage of the increased visibility from all the plants dying or being dormant and take a good look at your grounds. Are there areas of erosion? If so, you have a project for spring and can start researching and planning how to best fix it. Now is also a good time to consider critter dissuasion options. Motion-activated sprinklers, for example, might be useful in protecting your spring garden.
22. Can you see root damage to walls, foundations, pathways, or anything else? Don’t forget to check the area near the septic field and the well. In the spring, have a professional take care of any problematic roots. Research a good tree service and ask for referrals from friends and neighbors.
23. Where do snow and ice melt first and where does it last? That gives you an idea of what spots naturally receive more sunlight or less sunlight. Of course, the micro-climate(s) in your yard will be a little different when the trees have leaves and as the angles of the sun change, but this will give you a starting point.

When Late Winter Finally Arrives

24. It’s finally time to start planting, even with the ground frozen rock-hard. Start your hardy (early season) plants indoors. In four to six weeks, you can put them in the ground and start the next group of plants inside. A Grow Zone map can help you determine what to plant and when, as the weather begins to warm up.

Remember to take my Gardening Self-Assessment to maximize this pre-growing season for the best spring garden yet. And bookmark this article for when spring is a little closer and you’re ready to start preparing!

Hopefully, these tips will help you and your family get excited for your garden for next summer and you’ll have a great growing season!

What are things you do to prepare for your spring garden in the dead of winter?