11 Winter Tasks To Do Now For An Abundant Spring Garden 

For many gardeners, late fall marks a turn toward a quiet landscape. It’s rife with opportunities to let the garden work for us while it rests. And in warm season climates, the bounty continues all winter.

Winter garden tasks create a foundation for spring readiness. Streamlined regenerative techniques like crop covers and leaf mulch lead to nourished soils, while overwintering tender plants and insulating crops extends their seasons (and our enjoyment). Here, we’ll cover winter tasks to accomplish now for a flourishing spring.

Start Seedlings

Frost-tolerant crops withstand colder temperatures, though they need protection against heavy freezes and frigid conditions. In frost-free zones (9 and warmer), enjoy transplanting seedlings for all-season growing. In lower zones, utilize a greenhouse or add insulation to promote winter growing.

It’s also an excellent time to inventory seed starting supplies for later in the season. Starting seeds indoors gives seedlings a jumpstart on spring growth. They develop flowers and fruits earlier with a long production season. Take advantage of holiday wish lists and seasonal deals to add to your collection.

In Warm Zones, Consider Unmulched Beds

While we usually advocate mulching beds for many beneficial reasons (see below on this list), a trick in warm, frost-free climates is to leave active vegetable beds uncovered. While mulch insulates and retains moisture, it doesn’t allow the sun to warm roots as quickly as bare earth.

In zones 9 and up, consider topdressing with a layer of compost at planting. The compost provides some insulation, including heat retention, but it also allows the sun’s rays to warm the ground. Warm roots mean quicker growth for newly planted herbs and veggies.

Sow Cover Crops

If you plan on leaving beds empty this season, let cover crops work for the site while it rests. This winter garden task is crucial for preventing erosion. Cover crops increase diversity, improve soils, and attract beneficial insects. Fall-planted grasses and legumes work with microorganisms to protect and enrich soils between primary crop-growing phases. Use them in raised beds for soil improvement during quiet times.

Cover crops are easy, flexible, and serve different roles. A nitrogen-fixing legume like clover, beans, peas, and vetch reduces or eliminates the need for fertilizer. Grasses like annual rye, oats, winter wheat, and buckwheat catch nitrogen and make for fast-growing coverage.

Opt for fall seed species or mixes and scatter them evenly and generously. Choose non-invasive cultivars. Have leftover seeds from the autumn veggie garden? Kale, radish, and turnips make excellent crops for improving aeration.

Cover Crop Treatment, Warm vs. Cold Climates

In warmer areas, sow cover crops anytime (fall is prime). When they flower, cut them back with a mower or pruners before they go to seed. This prevents them from spreading and becoming weedy. Leave the cut material in place to become organic matter for the soil. Use them as mulch or turn them in the soils at planting. Or, add them to the compost pile.

In cold climates, cover crops experience winter kill (dieback after heavy freezes). Plant them in the fall to let them put on growth before a killing frost. Leave them where they lie after freezing to become natural mulch and organic enrichment. Plant directly beneath the cover in spring or incorporate them into the soil.

Winter kill depends on the crop’s hardiness and climate. Choose cold-hardy varieties for your USDA growing zone to get the longest growing time and the most benefits. Check the “days to maturity” on the seed packet to ensure you have enough time to sow and establish cool-season coverage.

If you missed the sowing timeframe before freezing conditions in your zone, don’t worry – opt for mulch, like leaf litter, to nourish empty beds.

Take Down Growing Structures

If your trellises, arches, or other growing structures aren’t serving a winter purpose, take them down for storage as part of winter garden maintenance. Protect wood and metal and prolong their life by placing them in a sheltered spot.

They’ll be ready to be put to good use the next go-round. Keeping them out of exposure to the elements reduces labor, materials, and investment.

Insulate Crops

If you use a floating row cover, tunnel, or hoop system, the options for sowing hardy annuals, herbs, and vegetables in cold climates increase. For starting seeds indoors, keep the seedlings protected from winter extremes in a sheltered space like a cold frame, greenhouse, shed, or garage with a window.

Simple Hoop Tunnels

Protect crops in the ground or raised beds with insulating hoop systems. Pliable PVC pipe placed onto rebar anchors creates a simple hoop. Place greenhouse polyethylene over a series of hoops for a ready-made cold frame. 

The plastic covering creates insulation and prevents excess moisture (and weighty snow). It allows natural light to penetrate. Vapor barrier plastic works well, too; just make sure the opacity enables light to infiltrate.

If temperature is the priority and excess moisture isn’t a concern, or if you don’t have irrigation running this time of year and need natural moisture, frost cloth does the job. The thick fabric insulates while allowing light and moisture, and it folds back easily. Different fabric weights correspond to varying temperatures so you can adjust as is best for your area.

Collect Leaves as Mulch

Mulch protects against fluctuating extremes and icy situations. It helps protect roots during frost heaving when soils naturally freeze and thaw due to temperature and moisture changes.

Fall leaves are a ready resource with long-term benefits. They provide a natural mulch and break down to nourish soils. They also house pollinators and other creatures that use them to nest, lay eggs, and overwinter.

To use leaves as mulch, place them as a natural cover across beds. Leave them where they drop or lightly rake whole leaves into beds to add insulation for roots as temperatures drop. Keep the layer off of stems to prevent fungal problems and maintain air circulation. 

To keep leaves from blowing around and being displaced, wet the mulch layer. It then forms a mat that stays in place. 

If your yard doesn’t have enough leaves for full bed coverage, clean straw works efficiently. Apply a three-inch layer around crops. Apply mulch layers to food crops, ornamental beds, and around shrubs and trees. Top empty beds (those without a cover crop), along with raised beds and containers.

Make Leaf Mold

Store excess leaves in piles to make leaf mold or add to the compost pile as brown material. Leaf mold is easy to make and serves as a valuable topdressing and soil conditioner.

If you have a bounty of leaves, a leaf tower is a convenient way to store them. Make a tower using pliable fencing like chicken wire or bunny fencing to hold the leaves in place. Form the panel into a large cylinder. Place compostable leaf bags at the base to keep weeds at bay, and toss in the leaves. Use the leaves over the season and throughout the year.

Overwinter Vulnerable Perennials, Tropicals, and Annuals

Sometimes, favorite tender perennials, tropicals, and annuals are worth extra attention to see them through the winter. Vulnerable specimens may not survive the winter in your growing area. Maybe they’re right on the cusp of your USDA hardiness zone or sensitive to winter extremes like persistent drying winds or repeated freezing and thawing.

In overwintering special selections, the primary goal is to protect the roots and crown from extreme temperatures, frost, winds, and sun. For in-ground plantings, protect the roots and crown with 8 to 12 inches of mulch, covering the lower stems and roots in a mound of soil, compost, leaves, or straw. Evergreen boughs work well as a blanket of insulation, too.

Potted Specimens

Potted selections lack insulation from surrounding soils and need to be hardier than their in-ground counterparts to survive cold conditions. A good rule of thumb is to leave those that are two zones lower than your growing zone (for example, a zone 7 gardener could opt to leave a perennial hardy to zone 5 outside in a pot).

In mild climates (zone 8 and warmer), a simple thermal blanket or burlap cover can provide enough insulation to protect from frost, wind, and cold snaps. In colder climates, more insulation is helpful for winterizing.

Cluster or huddle pots together. Insulate them with shredded bark, woodchips, straw, or leaves. Mulch heavily all around the group, or use bagged leaves for easy removal in the spring.

Shelter

The safest bet is to move tender favorites to an enclosed space. An unheated space like a cold frame, garage, basement, or shed are great options. The potted growers require occasional watering (about once a month) so roots don’t dry out. Check the soil moisture every few weeks.

Winterize Trees and Shrubs

In areas with frigid winters, newly planted trees benefit from extra protection. Trees from one to five years after planting are contenders for trunk wrapping. Wrapping their trunks helps keep them insulated. A special tree wrap material or kraft paper wound around young trunks prevents them from splitting with fluctuating temperatures and sunscald from exposure.

Borderline hardy shrubs like roses and hydrangeas benefit from added protection in zones 6 and lower. Mound a layer of leaves over the crown and roots in dormancy. A wire cage filled with leaves (chicken wire or similar) forms a cylindrical frame and insulating cushion to last all season. Wrapping with frost cloth can help during temperature extremes and cold snaps.

Prep New Beds

Create new beds now to save time in the spring when we’ll be busy sowing seeds and planting seedlings. Working soils now helps minimize digging in potentially soggy situations. Plus, it gives cover crops and leaves time to work their magic.

Fall is an excellent time for a soil test and to add amendments. Applying them now lets them work into the soils for added benefits during warm season growth.