November is the perfect month to prepare your garden for winter. With a few smart adjustments, you will not only protect your plants, but also provide a nice shelter for wildlife such as birds, hedgehogs and insects. And plant evergreen and winter flowering shrubs this month, for a garden that brings colour all year round. With these five tips, your garden will stay healthy, colourful and full of life, even in the cold winter months.
Remove fallen leaves from your lawn or terrace but do not throw them away (see tip 2!). Prune dead or damaged branches of shrubs but note: for most shrubs, early spring or right after flowering is the best time to prune. Do you have shrubs with berries, such as Callicarpa PearlGlam® or Sambucus Lemony Lace®. Leave them on as much as possible, the birds love them.
Did you save the leaves from tip 1? Great! This layer of leaves protects the soil from cold and dehydration and feeds your plants. If it gets very cold, you can protect vulnerable (pot)plants with a cloth or fleece. Place pots on your terrace or balcony close together in a sheltered spot.
Keep a corner of your garden cluttered with branches and leaves. This provides shelter for many animals such as hedgehogs and insects. And birds like to scurry around there to find food.
Leave spent plants where they are, as the faded flowers, seed pods and stems provide food and shelter for birds and insects. Dead plants can also look simply beautiful, especially with a layer of hoar frost or a ‘hat’ of snow.
Evergreen shrubs such as Rhododendron Bollywood® and Ilex Gembux® provide colour and structure in your garden even in winter. But also consider other winter features. For example, Heptacodium Temple of Bloom® really stands out in winter, with its beautiful flaking bark. While Viburnum Sweet Talker® flowers as early as late winter with deep pink flowers.
