Protecting plants from weather that may come at us in January or February (and, in some years, earlier) is strategic to protecting our hard earned investments in the garden. So, just when you were about to hang up the pruners and pack away the garden boots, guess what? Not yet just, partner.
Let’s talk “mulch”. Many people assume the function of mulching a garden is to keep it warm. Wrong. Mulch is meant to keep the ground temperatures stable and cool, so when we get those few cherished, beautiful, clear, warm, days in February, plants don’t start to wake up only to be cut down by a killing frost. Once plants are fully dormant is the time to mulch. This is usually sometime after Thanksgiving. Two to three inches of compost (or compost mixed with 20-30 percent manure) over the garden provides the perfect protection from winter’s nastiest tricks.
Please do NOT use bark dust. On this side of the world, our bark dust and chips are mostly Douglas fir, which is acidic and will, over time, change the pH of your soil. Bark dust is also full of splinters and therefore very unpleasant to garden in and around. Compost can be applied by hand or blown onto the garden by professionals. Whichever method you choose, now is the time to begin the think about it. Look for mulch that is clean. That means the plant material, which makes up the bulk of the compost, has been composted at high enough temperatures to kill the weed seeds. And look for compost that does not contain chemicals that might be harmful to your existing garden. I look for organic material that preferably comes with a “pedigree”—testing information.
If you intend to create a new garden bed next spring, fall and winter is the perfect time to start, but don’t wait much longer. Once the rains set in, it gets too soggy to work the garden without destroying the structure of the soil. I am a firm believer that “less lawn is good” and more planting space is better. If you have had your eyes on a spot of lawn that really should be planting space, now is the time to do something about it. It is fondly referred to as “lasagna mulching”.
First, don’t dig up the lawn or weedy area. For particularly dense lawn areas, you might want to pre-treat the plants with an application of Round-Up or a chemical look-alike. But take care to use chemicals carefully, read the instructions and cautions, and be sure not to over-spray. Note that Round-Up and its cousins are only effective when temperatures are over 50 degrees. Next, apply a thick layer of either newspapers or cardboard directly over the area of the new bed. Cardboard can go down in one layer. Newspaper will need eight-10 layers. Wet the newspaper down every 2-3 layers to ensure it will deteriorate, and do the same for the single layer of cardboard. It is important that the layers of paper overlap each other 4-6 inches. This will stop grass or weeds from growing between the seams. Top it all with 4-6 inches of compost, and stand back. Earthworms love this application. They will wiggle up through the earth and draw bits of the paper back down into the soil. By mid April…. voila! You should have new garden bed complete with earthworms ready for whatever you want to throw at it.
