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Why We Winterize the Garden
Winterizing your garden ensures healthy soil and plants next spring. St. Louis’ Zone 6 climate brings freezing winters, making preparation essential to protect your garden from harsh conditions. These beginner-friendly tips will help you get your garden ready for winter.
1. Clear Out Old Plants and Debris
Remove summer crops, weeds, and plant debris from your garden beds. Clearing out debris prevents pests and diseases from overwintering. Chop up healthy plants to add to your compost pile, but discard diseased plants and weeds to keep your compost clean.
2. Prepare the Soil
Optional Soil Test: Test your soil to identify nutrient deficiencies before winter. Soil test kits are available online or through local agricultural extensions.
Till the Soil: Use a spade or tiller to mix the soil, improving airflow and drainage while disrupting overwintering pests.
Add Compost: Mix in organic compost to replenish nutrients used during the growing season.
3. Mulch Your Garden
Protect your soil with organic mulch such as leaf mulch, natural mulch, or oak bark mulch. Mulch prevents erosion, retains moisture, and regulates soil temperature. Avoid Black Walnut leaves, as they are toxic to most plants.
4. Plant a Cover Crop
Sow fast-growing cover crops like winter rye or Austrian winter peas. These protect the soil, prevent weeds, and add nutrients when tilled into the soil in the spring.
5. Care for Perennials and Herbs
Perennials: Water well in the fall and mulch around their bases to insulate roots. Leave plants like coneflowers intact for birds to enjoy during winter, but cut back others, like hostas, to prevent disease.
Herbs: Hardy herbs like thyme need little protection, but tender ones like rosemary should be moved indoors. For less-hardy varieties, like oregano, add straw mulch for extra protection.
6. Handle Hardy Vegetables
Harvest tender crops like tomatoes and zucchini before the first frost.
Leave hardy crops like kale, Brussels sprouts, and carrots in the ground. These can often survive frosts and even taste sweeter after exposure to cold.
7. Prepare Berry Patches and Roses
Berries: Prune raspberry and blackberry canes, and cover strawberry beds with straw mulch.
Roses: After the first frost, heavily mulch around the base of your roses to insulate the roots.
Why Winterize?
Winterizing your garden protects the soil, improves fertility, and reduces your workload in the spring. For gardeners in St. Louis, taking these steps prepares your garden to thrive through Zone 6 winters and ensures a head start on a productive growing season.
Need Mulch or Compost?
If you need mulch or compost to prepare your garden beds this winter, St. Louis Composting has you covered! Visit one of our nine convenient locations or place an online order to enjoy the convenience of high-quality materials. Let us help your garden thrive year-round!
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