Although the Winters in the South of Spain are pretty mild it is a good idea to prepare your garden for the winter so that it can bloom again in spring.
Putting the garden to bed for the winter is mostly a matter of
cleaning up and covering up. As fall progresses and temperatures drop,
those plants that aren't killed outright by frost prepare for dormancy.
Clear out the blackened stems and foliage of annual flowers and
vegetables to prevent the possibility of their harboring disease
pathogens and insect eggs over the winter. The cool weather is a good
time to make a cold frame, dig and box in raised beds, and make general
repairs.
While it appears as if all activity in the garden has stopped,
there's a lot going on under the soil until it freezes. Newly
transplanted trees and shrubs, divisions of perennials, and hardy bulbs
are all growing roots, drawing on soil nutrients and moisture around
them. Earthworms and various microbes in the soil are still processing
the organic material they're finding. Most likely, the organic mulch you
spread to protect the soil during the summer months has substantially
decomposed. It's important to spread new mulch now -- a thicker winter
layer -- to protect plants and soil over the winter months. The idea is
not so much to keep the soil warm as it is to keep the temperature even.
Once the soil is frozen, mulch keeps it frozen. So if you have shade
trees, convert the fallen leaves to mulch and use it throughout your
property.
Weather
Snow both protects and endangers plants. A good snow cover
insulates the soil like a mulch. However, snow piled on evergreen
branches weights them down, risking breakage. Knock snow from the
bottom branches first, then work upward. This way snow from above will
not add weight to the already burdened lower branches. If branches are
bowed by ice, don't try to free them. Instead let the ice melt and
release them gradually.
- Cut back dry stems of perennials to soil level after frost
to neaten the garden and remove pest eggs and disease spores that may
linger. Leave stems with attractive seed heads for winter interest.
- Compost dead plant debris to create an organic soil
conditioner. Hot, active piles kill weed seeds and disease pathogens;
passive, inactive piles do not. Throw questionable plant material in the
trash.
- Cut off diseased foliage from evergreen plants and shrubs
and discard it in the trash. Rake up and discard the old,
disease-bearing mulch, too.
- To prevent rodents from nesting in the soil, wait until the
ground freezes before adding a 6-inch layer of organic material as
winter mulch.
- Mulch perennial and shrub beds with pine needles or chopped
leaves. This protects both plant roots and the soil and moderates the
effects of extreme temperature changes during winter freezes and thaws.
- Mulch bulb beds with evergreen boughs to protect the soil
from shifting and cracking during the winter. Otherwise plants,
especially small, shallowly planted bulbs, can be heaved to the surface.
- Protect the tender bark of young trees from gnawing critters
by wrapping stems or trunks with wire or commercial tree-guard
products.
- Screen evergreens, particularly exposed broad-leaved types,
from drying winter wind and sun by setting up burlap screens or shade
cloth shelters.
Roses are so beautiful that it's difficult to begrudge them the
extra attention they require over the growing season. As cool fall
weather brings on their dormant period, one final job remains for you:
preparing them for winter. As a group, hybrid tea roses are the most
vulnerable to winter cold and need the most preparation. The complexity
of this job depends on how severe the winters typically are in your part
of the country.
It's important to stop fertilizing in late summer in most areas.
Make the last feeding of the season two months before you expect the
first frost. Also refrain from major pruning, and stop cutting blossoms.
This avoids stimulating any more new, tender growth, which will be
killed by the first frost anyway.
Remove all old mulch from under and around the roses; it might
harbor insect eggs or disease spores from infected fallen leaves. Just
before the first hard, or killing, frost of the season, spread fresh
mulch of wood chips, shredded bark, or chopped leaves around the base of
the plant, extending as far out as the branch tips. Wait until after
the ground freezes to spread the mulch if rodents are a problem in the
yard. Mice, especially, like to build their nests in mulch. Water the
rose well, especially if it's been through a dry summer.
Once the ground freezes, it's time to add more mulch. If you
live in an area with relatively mild winters, simply mound the mulch
over the plant crown 6 to 12 inches up the canes. This insulates the
soil to maintain an even temperature in spite of the normal alternating
winter freezes and thaws. This thick mulch is especially important when
there is no reliable snow cover to protect plants. If winter
temperatures often drop well below zero, build the mount of mulch, then
add more material after every freeze to make the mound higher.
Eventually the mulch should virtually cover the bush. Sometimes it's
easier to enclose the shrub in a cylinder and fill it with mulch.
