Preparing the Garden for a Frosty Winter

A Gentler Sort of Gardening

By the time the first proper frost silvers the lawn, most of us feel the urge to tidy everything away. Resist it. The garden that looks after its wildlife through winter is rarely the tidiest one — it is the one where a few leaves are left in a corner, the seed heads stay standing, and the soil is tucked up under a blanket of mulch. Slow nature living is not about doing nothing. It is about doing the right small things at the right time, then stepping back and letting the cold months do their work. What follows will take an afternoon or two, cost very little, and pay you back handsomely in spring.

Mulch the Borders While the Soil Still Holds Warmth

The single best thing you can do before the hard frosts arrive is to mulch. Aim to get it done by late November, while the ground is still slightly warm and the worms are active. Spread a generous layer of well-rotted manure, garden compost, leafmould or bark chippings over bare soil — around 5–8cm is about right for most borders. This insulates root systems, slows the freeze-and-thaw cycle that heaves plants out of the ground, and gives overwintering worms something to draw down into the soil.

A few rules keep you out of trouble:

• Leave a small gap of a few centimetres around stems, crowns and the necks of shrubs — piling mulch against them traps damp and encourages rot.
• Skip it on waterlogged clay. Wait for a dry spell, or simply spread compost thinly and let the worms do the rest.
• Sandy, free-draining soils benefit most, as they lose warmth fastest.
• Never mulch over the crowns of plants that hate winter wet, such as lavender, thyme and most Mediterranean herbs.

Protect Pots and Tender Plants

Roots in containers freeze from the sides as well as the top, which is why pots suffer far more than open ground. Terracotta is the most vulnerable — it is porous, and water held in the clay expands as it freezes, cracking the pot. Glazed and plastic containers fare better but still need help.

• Raise every pot onto pot feet, bricks or a couple of slate offcuts so excess water drains away rather than sitting under the roots.
• Group pots together against a sheltered house wall or fence, where they gain a little warmth and protection from wind.
• Wrap terracotta and half-hardy containers in bubble wrap or hessian, tied gently with twine around the pot rather than the plant.
• Move tender specimens into a cold greenhouse, porch or unheated conservatory. Ventilate on mild, still days to prevent mould.

Water sparingly through winter. For most shrubs, dry cold is far less damaging than wet cold, though evergreens in pots still need a drink during long dry, freezing spells.

Leave the Seed Heads Standing

This is the heart of winter wildlife gardening, and it requires nothing of you but patience. Seed heads left standing are larder, shelter and architecture all at once. Goldfinches will strip teasel and nigella; blue tits will work through sunflower and echinacea; wrens and dunnocks will hunt for hidden insects among the stems. Hollow-stemmed plants are used by solitary bees and ladybirds as winter quarters.

• Good plants to leave standing: teasel, echinacea, rudbeckia, sedum, fennel, honesty, allium, ornamental grasses and any sunflowers you grew.
• Hold off cutting back until late February or March, once the worst of the weather has passed.
• When you do cut, stack the stems in a quiet corner for a week or two first — you may disturb a sleeping ladybird otherwise.

If you must tidy, tidy only the front of the border and leave the back to nature. Nobody notices, and the birds certainly do not mind.

Water, Shelter and Small Acts of Kindness

Frosty weather is thirsty weather. Birds struggle to find liquid water, so keep a bird bath or shallow dish topped up and free of ice. Do not pour boiling water over it and never smash the ice — the shock and noise harm wildlife. A light floating ball or a small stick left in the water helps slow freezing and gives insects somewhere to climb out.

• Leave a corner of fallen leaves undisturbed — hedgehogs, frogs and insects all use leaf litter as insulation.
• Build a log pile or bundle of hollow stems in a shady spot; it will be occupied within weeks.
• Keep feeders clean and rotate them, as dirty feeders spread disease quickly when birds gather.
• Put out a shallow dish of water at ground level for hedgehogs and other ground dwellers.

The Quiet Jobs and a Slow Finish

Winter is not a season for heavy digging — working wet clay does more harm than good — so keep to the light, satisfying tasks. Prune only during frost-free spells, and leave evergreens well alone until spring. Stake young trees and tall evergreens against wind-rock, and knock heavy snow off branches with a broom rather than your hand. Stay off frosted grass, which bruises easily and browns for months.

When the work is done, clean and oil your tools, turn the compost heap, and settle down with a mug of something hot by the window. Half the pleasure of a slow nature garden is simply watching it: the blackbird turning leaves, the wren slipping through the stems you wisely left standing, the first catkins forming in secret. Prepare well now, and the garden will wake in spring already ahead of itself.