Winter Gardening: a Gardener’s Guide to Curing the Winter Blues

With Thanksgiving over and the last of our crops degrading in compost piles, gardeners alike are turning in their trowels and watering cans for the television remote. But just because Father Winter is knocking on our back doors, it doesn’t mean we have to stop gardening. Below, the gardening experts at xVirity have compiled a list of ways to spruce up your frost-bitten yard with some winter gardening, so keep reading to cure those winter blues!

Sprucing up the Porch

The good ol’ front porch, where we string Christmas lights and red and green ribbons for the holidays. For gardeners, plastic poinsettias and miniature trees simply won’t do, so try these fun ideas to add pops of live color to your Christmas decor.

Plant a Window Box

A planting a window box technically counts as winter gardening, since you have to plant the flowers! This is a fun way to add pops of color without the risk of Christmas carolers knocking over your potted flowers. To start, head to your local nursery and choose the flowers you’d like to plant. (Expert Tip: you should choose plants that are one to two hardiness zones colder than yours so they have a better chance of survival.)

For an eye-catching window box, choose three or four plants with a variety of textures, colors, and heights. You’ll want a centerpiece plant, something with a bright pop of color and gorgeous petals, such as phlox or china pinks. Hardy vegetables, like kale and cabbage, can fill in empty spaces while adding a ripple of texture and deeper, darker background hues. For height, try incorporating a Japanese Yew or Brown’s Yew. These could work  nicely as a centerpiece, decorated with small lights and bows. You could also include pansies, violas, and snow drops.

When choosing your window box, make sure it’s weather-resistant and contains drainage holes, as your plants will need more water than those in the ground. For more style, you can paint the box to complement the plants you have selected.

When planting, fill the box 2/3 of the way full with potting mixture. Transplant your flowers, cover the roots with soil, and water.

Want to take it a step further? Decorate your window box with Christmas lights, bulbs, or ribbon!

And for more help, watch this video tutorial from HGTV. 

Plant Christmas Trees

While almost everyone erects a Christmas tree inside their home, it’s also fun to add them outside. You can pot small spruces on your porch or plant them in the mulch.

Blue Spruce is our favorite option for adding Christmas spirit to the porch or yard. If potting your spruce, keep in mind that this species of tree needs lots of water and full sunlight. Don’t place it in the shade, and choose a container with drainage holes.

You can decorate these trees with Christmas lights and bulbs to add a festive pop to your porch. Another fun idea: add (fake or real) presents beneath the tree!

Festive Winter Shrubs

Lining your driveway or sidewalk with festive winter shrubs is a creative way to spruce up your yard and add a pop of Christmas color.

Holly Bush and Cottoneasters are gorgeous shrubs for winter. Cottoneasters are especially great choices, as they can survive harsh weather, drought, wind, and road salt.

If you don’t dig the Christmas-y shrubs, then consider planting red- and yellow-stemmed dogwood, witch hazel, or winter jasmine for those gorgeous cool-weather hues.

 

Winter-Blooming Flowers

As for flower beds, you can plant spring bulbs or late-wintering flowers. Christmas roses, or hellebores, are perfect for those who don’t like to share their flowers with the deer! Other flowers to consider for your beds include snow drops, winter pansies, winter aconites, crocus, spring snowflake, camellia, and scilla.

Winter Gardening

Even though (baby) it’s cold outside, you can still grow vegetables in your garden.

Hardy vegetables, the ones we add to those savory winter stews, grow well from November to March. If your zone is particularly cold, you can add fabric tunnels and cold frames to protect your vegetables. Note: just because these plants are winter vegetables, it doesn’t mean you should plant these crops in the winter. Plant them in late summer or early fall, depending on the plant.

Here are the best winter veggies to plant in your garden:

  • Kale
  • Lettuce
  • Carrots
  • Spinach
  • Arugula
  • Onions
  • Garlic
  • Asparagus

Outside of the vegetable garden, you can mulch trees and dispose of rotting fruit beneath trees in your compost pile.

Prepare

Of course, there’s not a whole lot to do in the yard once the snow storms blow in, but you can always prepare for the future. Get in some Christmas shopping by finding great deals on gardening supplies (or put your must-have gardening tools on your own Christmas list!).

Looking for an all natural fertilizer that will boost your harvest and help the environment? Put xVital on your Christmas list! Our liquid fertilizer is made of just nitrate and ionized water, giving plants what they need to thrive (and nothing they don’t).

Get your first bottle of xVital for just $1.99 by checking our social media for the promo code.  

 

 

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