Schools 

Gardens for Life in Winter

Prepare the ground

Winter is here so it’s time to think ahead and make sure your garden is ready to get going again in the spring. This is the time to plan the garden and rotate your crops to avoid pests and disease.

Plan ahead

Draw up a plan of the garden and work out where everything should go, remember you shouldn’t have successive crops from the same family growing in the same patch every year – if you move them around then you’ll hopefully  avoid the build up of pests and diseases. See the Gardening Handbook in your resource pack for further details about crop rotation.

There is another big advantage to rotating your crops – some plants, like beans help fix nitrogen in the soil. Plant your cabbages where you last had your beans and you’ll see how well they do.

If you haven’t already got your seed catalogues then order them now, so once you’ve planned what to grow you can get ordering. There’s always a rush for seeds in March when spring is around the corner so don’t leave it too late or all the varieties you want will be gone.

Ground work

Now’s the time to build up your soil for the spring. Add homemade compost if you have it or well-rotted horse manure and, if you can get it, eco-soil. Turn it in and leave it for the cold weather to break up any heavy clods and kill off any pests and diseases left in the soil. If you can, leave well alone for six to eight weeks then rotivate or dig to a finer tilth ready for planting.

Green Manure

Green manures are hardy plants that can overwinter in an unused bit of your garden enriching the soil. Just harvest and dig them into the soil in early spring to give your crops a boost of nutrients. They also help protect the soil from the worst of the weather. Good examples include, Alfalfa, field beans, Phacelia, Trefoil, Vetch and Rye.