Winter Gardening Tips: How To Care For Plants In Winter?

Winter is often considered a challenging time for most plants and gardens. As most plants go into dormancy, winter gardening is more about preparing for the upcoming spring season rather than growing new plants. Most plant lovers and gardeners struggle to take care of their plants and garden during winter and fail to prepare for the growing season.

During winter, both indoor and outdoor plants require equal attention and care. To help you navigate the cold season, we’ve compiled a guide on top winter gardening tips to take better care of your plants and plan for the upcoming growing season.

So, without further ado, let’s explore these winter gardening tips and how you can care for your plants in the cold season.

Winter Gardening Tips

Prepare the soil

For garden plants, you need to prepare the soil by adding a layer of mulch that acts as a blanket for plants when the temperature drops in winter. A thick layer of mulch consisting of organic materials, such as wood chips, shredded leaves, and straw, helps maintain temperature and retain moisture.

Moreover, as these organic materials break down, they provide necessary nutrients to the soil and plants to thrive. Therefore, mulching is a must for winter plant care as it provides stable temperatures, nutrients, and moisture to the plants.

Regulate Watering

Watering your plants is always an important task that should be done carefully and according to the needs of the plants in every season. During winter, watering should be reduced for most plants as temperatures drop and evaporation slows down. Water during the day so that it can evaporate easily as long as the sun is out.

During the cold periods of time, the water in the soil can freeze and damage the roots. Therefore, water only when the soil is dry so it can be absorbed quickly.

Utilise Natural Light

Even though the daylight during winter decreases, you can still make the most out of it by planting some winter-growing plants in the sunniest parts of your garden. Moreover, you can also shift potted plants to these parts if you can’t bring them indoors.

The same goes for indoor plants, as you can shift them to windows and areas of your home that receive the most sunlight. However, if your home doesn’t receive enough sun for plants to thrive in winter, you can grow some shade-tolerant plants. Or you can invest in some grow lights to keep your plants thriving.

Focus on Feeding

The growth of most plants slows down in winter, as they are not actively growing, so they don’t require much feeding. As mentioned earlier, applying a layer of mulch should give your plants enough nutrients to get through the winter season. If you are not using mulch, you can use a slow-release organic fertiliser to provide necessary nutrients to your plants. Using excessive fertiliser can damage your plants as their nutrient needs decrease during the winter season.

Pruning and Maintenance

Winter is the perfect time to prune your plants and shape them. As they are not actively growing, pruning them helps conserve energy and focus on fresh growth. Moreover, pruning dead and decayed parts of plants prevents diseases and pest infestation.

Winter Gardening Tips for Indoor Plants

For indoor plants, winter can be as tough as for plants grown outdoors. Most hardy houseplants are resilient and can adapt to most conditions; however, as a plant lover, you must know winter gardening tips for indoor gardens.

Choose the Right Plants

Choosing the right plants for your indoor garden will keep your indoor space thriving in all seasons. For winter, you can choose shade-tolerant plants that thrive in low-light conditions. Plants that are hardy enough to thrive in temperature changes are also great for your indoor garden.

Increase Indoor Humidity

During winter, indoor air gets dry due to a lack of ventilation and the use of heaters. However, the humidity of plants remains the same. Therefore, you need to take extra care in maintaining the right humidity levels that are required for your plants to survive.

You can maintain humidity levels by grouping plants, using water trays, or using humidifiers. You can also mist your plants regularly to prevent any lack of humidity during the winter season.

Water Adequately

Due to slow growth, the water requirement of plants also decreases in winter. Therefore, you need to keep a strict watering schedule so that your plants don’t suffer from overwatering. Allow the top few inches of the soil to dry before watering again. For tropical plants and those with high watering needs, occasional misting should do the job.

Regulate Temperatures

Sudden temperature changes can harm the health of indoor plants. These plants prefer stable temperatures ranging between 15℃ to 24℃. Therefore, maintain a suitable environment for your indoor plants and avoid placing them near heating vents and cold drafts, as it can cause stress in plants and lead to leaf drop.

Plants for your Winter Garden

Here’s a list of some plants that you can grow in your winter garden. These plants can easily thrive in the cold and harsh winter conditions with minimal needs –

• Crocuses – These winter plants are grown popularly in containers or in garden borders. Crocuses are great for a winter garden as they are easy to care for and have a beautiful appearance.
• Pansies – These winter-bedding plants are popularly grown as ground covers. Pansies can thrive in harsh winter conditions and produce beautiful, vibrant blooms.
• Snowdrops – Producing beautiful white blooms, these winter-flowering plants are a must-have in your winter garden. Snowdrops can even survive in frost.
• Alyssum – Known for its delicate clusters of white flowers, these low-growing winter plants have a captivating honey-like aroma.
• Daffodils – The trumpet-shaped blooms of these hardy perennial bulbs act as staples in every garden. Daffodils are also great for a winter garden as they have very low care.
• Hellebores – Also known as winter rose, these plants flower all through winter, creating a beautiful display in your garden.

Conclusion

Gardening in winter doesn’t have to be tough as long as you have the right guide with essential winter gardening tips. With the right care, you can easily maintain your garden in winter and prepare for the spring season. To know more about winter gardening and how to care for plants in winter, download the Plantora app. This plant care and identification app is the best friend of every plant lover as it provides detailed plant care guides and accurate plant identifications for free.