In the first month of winter, gardeners have more free time, which allows them, without rushing to think through their plans for next summer, to think again about where and what they can improve in the garden in December.
When the cold arrives, it is better to stop doing garden work. So it is recommended that the work in your garden be completed by the beginning of December. If the ground is frozen, avoid walking on the lawn; Stems and roots of the grass can easily be broken and these areas often turn brown in spring. During the winter months, you don't need to dump snow from the sidewalks onto the lawn. A thick blanket of snow stops airflow, causing grass to suffocate and die.
Don't burn the piles of dry leaves because different animals hide there!
If you didn't prune your shrubs and trees in October and November, you can do so now. At the beginning of December there are sometimes a few nice days, cold but still sunny, so you can still work in the garden. If you find such an opportunity, don't hesitate, start pruning!
In the cold months you don't sit around doing nothing. The main task of gardeners in winter is to save the seedlings of dahlias and gladioli until spring. While your garden enjoys its winter rest, you can also relax a bit. While you relax, please think about how you want to design your garden next spring so that it becomes even more beautiful. You can find some ideas about it here! Scroll down and read on!
Plan rather than work
The hellebore looks cute and brings a happy atmosphere to your garden
The hellebore is a beautiful ornamental plant with large flowers that appear under the snow in spring. You will bring the first colors to your garden if you grow this plant there! The best known plant is the Christmas rose, the so-called black hellebore (Helleborus niger), which also tolerates sun and drought best. It develops very well in humus-rich, calcareous soils. The stinking hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) also demonstrates great light green flower colors. A number of hybrids have now been bred. These include, for example, the variety Helleborus “Queen of the night”, a cross between the oriental hellebore and the purple hellebore.
Ornamental grasses can be a good solution for free garden areas
If you are in doubt about what kind of plants to place in open and sunny areas in your garden or in the shade under the canopy of trees, you have just found a very simple answer. Colorful ornamental grasses with fine petals! For example, miscanthus (Miscanthus sinensis) and pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana). But be warned, they grow quickly so they should not be sown too densely.
Pampas grass is a perennial herbaceous evergreen plant. The leaves are gray-green, 1-2 m long. At the end of summer, pale pink or white panicles appear on long stems up to 2.5 m. Decorative pampas grass is a perennial that can decorate your garden for several years if the location suits it. The feathery flowers unfold in August and can remain in their full splendor until November.
The Chinese grass Miscanthus, on the other hand, grows in sunny places with high humidity. It likes cold winds and prefers fertile soils. It can grow in one place for many years and does not tolerate transplanting. It is very beautiful in autumn when the leaves are colored yellow and also during its flowering period from August to October.
Living fence as a privacy screen from curious neighbors
So that you are well protected from the prying eyes of your neighbors in your garden, you can make a living fence as a privacy screen and visual cover. At the border of your property, you can grow shrubs that do not exceed two meters in height. These are the Spierstaude and the Stone Oaks. Over the years they grow so densely and form a solid green wall.
Seedlings need to overwinter in the right place and conditions
Dahlias, begonias and gladioli are among the most popular garden flowers, and not without reason. These magnificent plant species decorate our gardens all summer long with their wonderful flowers. They could actually be the ideal plants for lazy gardeners if they were also hardy. The otherwise easy-care garden beauties are very sensitive in winter. Their tuber plants are very sensitive to frost and dahlias and gladiolus tubers are not allowed to overwinter outdoors. Therefore, before the first night frosts, they should be cut back to 10 to 15 centimeters above the ground and then dug up.
Keep the tubers in a sufficiently dry room (humidity 60-70%) and at a temperature of 5-10 degrees. Stored in the cold room or in the cellar, this will be good for the gladiolus tubers. The room needs to be ventilated occasionally.
Begonia tubers, buttercups, are stored in the same way as gladioli, but best in a moist location, in peat or sawdust. This way they will overwinter really well.
All tubers, bulbs, rhizomes should be carefully checked twice a month, infected parts must be cut off.
Planning your garden in December for next year
