PREPARING YOUR GARDEN BEFORE THE WINTER DRAWS IN!
Preparing your Garden before the winter draws in!
Many of us have had to brace ourselves this week against the weather. And if that’s a sign of what’s to come, we are in for a nasty, bitterly cold winter. As the weather alerts came through this week, it was a rush to batten down the hatches against the forecasted barrage of wind and rain. Unfortunately, I didn’t rush quick enough! Halfway through an episode of Grand Designs we heard a crash outside! The parasol had flown across the garden but luckily for us, it didn’t smash into a million pieces! So in an effort to prepare for the looming winter, I will focus this blog on how to get your garden winter ready. It includes preparing your garden and preparing your plants to see us all through to spring.
Cleaning Outdoor Furniture
Regarding your garden, the main area is how to prepare furniture in the best possible way. The key step here is to clean and dry down all the chairs, tables, parasols, planters, pots etc, as well as removing dead leaves and dirt. It will help to prevent mildew building up during the winter. I usually mix equal measures white vinegar with warm water. I then take a stiff brush to brush down our hardwood furniture with this mixture. Indeed you can use both vinegar or bread soda for cleaning plastic, wrought iron and wicker basket materials. Just make sure that the brush doesn’t mark your furniture, so I would advise testing in an inconspicuous area first.
Rinse down the furniture with clean water (perhaps you could use your collected and filtered rain water!!) Once you are happy that the stains and dirt are gone, and the furniture is dry, then you’re ready to pack up the furniture. You can do this by either placing it in a shed or using a furniture cover. There are many versions of these covers on sale in all large garden centres and DIY stores. You can also find a great range of natural cleaning products for patio cleaning in garden centres e.g. Johnstown Garden Centre
Other Areas
Other key areas to check before the weather gets too poor, is to check gutters, gullies and drains. Check that these are clear of leaves, branches and stones. Gradually collecting and composting leaves as they fall will also help prevent flooding. This also helps to prevent dragging dirt through your house as well as avoiding a generally untidy looking garden.
Other items that are normally forgotten about are children’s furniture. Be sure to collect the many items of strewn toys and clean and put away sandboxes etc. Check that larger items such as play-gyms, swings and slides are bolted tightly together. Once these are clean it would also be wise if you could give exposed wooden items a lick of a protective oil or stain. You will find a great range of outdoor furniture paint in garden centres or in stores such as Traynors of Wexford
All of these chores might seem like unnecessary tasks. However, if you spend a half day now getting your garden winter ready it will go a long way towards an easier task in the spring time. We can then reclaim our outdoor living space once the temperatures allow us. I know now what I will be doing this weekend!
If any of you have any tips or hints, we would be happy to hear from you, so feel free to let us know!! You can reach us on info@oceanleaves.ie or here. If you want to protect your plants from frost during the winter period check out our range of organic seaweeds in our SHOP or if you are looking for some gift ideas for garden lovers why not get them a lovely garden hamper!
Looking forward to hearing from you!