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Garden Advice

10 Tips to Prepare the Garden for Winter

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The summer garden season is coming to a close. While we’re still working on certain projects like sowing bulb onions in cold frames and tending high tunnels of salad greens, we’re also resetting the garden for next spring. Even if you live in a warm, southern climate, there are still a few ways you can prepare your garden for winter. Here are ten tips to prepare your garden for winter and a great season next year.

1. Harvest or prepare to harvest warm-season crops before frost. 

If you still have eggplants, peppers, tomatoes, or squash in your garden, watch the weather carefully. If a light frost is in the forecast, cover them with old sheets of row cover. When a hard frost is in the forecast, it’s time to pull in the harvest. 

Our peppers are still thriving in the fall. We typically get an extra 1 to 2 weeks by covering them at night. Before the first killing frost, we uproot plants and place the roots in a bucket of water, storing them in a cool location, which can extend the harvest by 1 month.

Some tomatoes will ripen off the vine, and there are also many ways to use green tomatoes. Enjoy your eggplant and summer squash, or blanch and freeze them. Don’t forget to cure winter squash and pumpkins before putting them in storage.

Minnie Mizelle Collards in a greenhouse
Minnie Mizelle Collards

2. Prepare biennials for winter to save seed next season.

Biennial plants don’t produce seeds until their second year. If you want to save seed from your favorite biennial crops like cabbages, collards, beets, carrots, and hollyhocks, you’ll need to overwinter them. 

Many biennial crops can survive temperatures into the 20°Fs. If you live in a mild climate, you may be able to overwinter them right in the field or in a tunnel. They benefit from some cover, even just frost cloth and low tunnels. Place a thick layer of mulch over their roots.

In colder climates, you’ll have to store the crops indoors in damp peat moss or similar material over the winter before transplanting them out in spring. 

Learn more about saving seed from biennial crops. 

3. Put away garden supplies.

All of your garden gear will last longer if you keep it out of the winter weather. Do a garden tidy day and take down any trellises, move tools under cover, and put away irrigation tape, hoses, and landscape fabric.

Victoria Rhubarb Plants in a bed
Victoria Rhubarb

4. Mark perennials.

It’s easy to forget where you planted perennials. Go around your garden and place stakes to mark perennials like echinacea, asparagus, and rhubarb so you don’t accidentally disturb them next spring. 

5. Cover any bare soil.

Ground cover helps protect soil and beneficial microbes from erosion and freeze thaw cycles. It can also reduce weed pressure in early spring. Depending on your climate, you may be able to sow a winter cover crop. You can also mulch your soil with straw, leaf litter, grass clippings, brother natural materials. A dead flowerhead covered in frost

6. Leave standing flowers for pollinators and birds.

Many pollinators and beneficial insects overwinter in dead plant material. Songbirds will also gather seeds from dead flower heads during the winter. Leaving the flower stalks of plants like rudbeckia, dara, echinacea, and sunflowers standing in the garden can help provide a home for insects like solitary bees and food for birds like chickadees. 

7. Remove and burn or dispose of diseased or pest-ridden plant material.

While we love leaving some patches of dead flowers standing, you should always remove any plants that had issues with pests or diseases. This applies to crops that are disease-prone in your area, even if they were fine this season. Common examples include tomatoes with late blight, asparagus stalks with asparagus beetles, cucumbers with downy mildew, or hollyhock stalks with rust. 

8. Build up your compost pile.

Compost piles can keep working through the winter even in surprisingly cold climates. The key to making compost in winter is having a large enough pile to generate and retain heat. Build up your compost pile this fall and early winter by sourcing various brown or carbon-rich and green or nitrogen-rich material. Great examples include grass clippings, fallen leaves, plain brown cardboard, coffee grounds, jack-o’-lanterns, sawdust, seaweed, and wood chips.

9. Get a soil test.

A soil test will pinpoint exactly what nutrients your garden needs. Many people opt for a soil test in the spring, but it’s fine to collect soil samples in the fall. It also means you’ll get your results back much quicker. Laboratories often take weeks to process samples in the spring when they’re overrun with orders. A fall soil sample will get you quick results so you can start building healthy soil during the winter and early spring, depending on your climate.

10. Create a garden map. 

While you’re enjoying the fall weather, take a walk through your garden and sketch out this season’s layout. Keeping a record of what you planted where this season and some quick notes about how each crop performed can help you plan your layout for next season.

Gardening slows down in the fall, but it never comes to a complete halt. Preparing your garden for winter with these ten tips can help you get great production next season.

Garden Advice

Best for Beginners: Top Ten Crops

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Planning your first garden is a thrill. There are so many beautiful varieties to choose from, but it can also be overwhelming. If you’re just getting started, there are a few crops we always recommend to beginners, especially in the Southeast.

It can be tempting to till up an enormous garden, but my best advice for beginners is to keep it small. As gardeners, we all start the season with the best intentions, but with vacations, work, and family commitments, it’s easy for the garden to get away from us. A well cared for small garden will be much more productive than a neglected large garden.

Virginia Select Paste Tomato
Virginia Select Roma VF Paste Tomato

Tomatoes

When you’re getting started with tomatoes, stick to a rugged, disease-resistant variety. Many cherry tomatoes, like Matt’s Wild, Yellow Centiflor, and Black Cherry tomatoes, are vigorous and will bear until frost. They’re also suitable for growing in large containers, though you’ll still need a sturdy trellis or hoop.

If you love to cook or can, paste tomatoes are another great option. Varieties like Amish Paste, Yellow Bell Paste, and Super Italian Paste tomatoes are productive and disease resistant. For small gardens, try a determinate paste tomato. Determinate varieties (as opposed to indeterminate) grow to a certain height, produce a bunch of tomatoes, and then stop. They don’t require pruning or heavy-duty trellises; a single large stake or tomato cage will suffice. Some disease-resistant determinate varieties include Virginia Select Roma VF, Principe Borghese Drying, and Heinz 1350 VF Processing.

Easter Egg Spring Radishes
Easter Egg Spring Radishes

Radishes

Radishes are a thrill to grow, especially for kids, because they grow so quickly. You can enjoy spring radishes like Sparkler White Tip or Easter Egg in as little as 24 days! The entire plant is edible, including the roots, leaves, flowers, and seed pods. 

Radishes can also help you detect soil deficiencies early. If your spring radishes fail to grow or form spindly roots, you likely have nutrient-poor soil. Add finished compost to your beds before planting again.

Genuine Cornfield Pole Snap Bean
Genuine Cornfield Pole Snap Bean

Pole Snap Beans

Pole beans are among our favorite crops for beginners, and they’re disappearing! Pole beans are difficult to harvest with equipment, so many seed companies are switching to bush beans, leaving these heirlooms in the past. 

However, pole beans are a great option for home gardens. Pole beans have large seeds, great for getting young kids involved in the planting. You can use pole beans to create bean teepees or tunnels, which makes harvesting extra fun and doubles as great summer forts for kids.

Some great varieties for beginners are Kentucky Wonder (Old Homestead) Pole Snap Bean, Rattlesnake Pole Snap Bean, and Genuine Cornfield Pole Snap Bean.

Drunken Woman Looseleaf Lettuce
Drunken Woman Looseleaf Lettuce

Lettuce

Lettuce is a cool-season crop that’s great for beginners in the early spring. It grows quickly and is low maintenance. You can often cut baby greens for your first salad in just 30 days. 

For beginners, we usually recommend loose-leaf lettuce for a cut and come again option. Try our Wild Garden Lettuce Mix or a loose-leaf variety like Green Salad Bowl or Drunken Woman. If you want a lettuce that keeps well in the fridge, romaine is your best bet. Try a colorful romaine like Rouge d’Hiver (Red Winter) Romaine Lettuce or a heat-resistant variety like Jericho.

Utopian Ultracross Collard leaves
Utopian Ultracross Collard

Collards

Collards are members of the cabbage family and are one of the easiest greens to grow in the Southeast. They are much more heat and drought tolerant than kale and cabbage. Most varieties are also winter hardy from Virginia southward. Try some old favorites like Whaley’s Favorite Cabbage Collards, Georgia Cabbage Collards, or Nancy Malone Wheat Purple Collards.

If you’re looking for cold-hardy greens, try the Utopian Ultracross Collard. The Heirloom Collard Project grew this new variety from 21 collards that saved 8°F lows through the winter. By purchasing a pack, you have the option to join a Community Seed Selection (CSS) project. The aim is to save seeds from the most cold-tolerant and tasty collards while preserving a wide diversity of types and colors.

Feherozon Sweet Bell Pepper plant
Feherozon Sweet Bell Pepper

Peppers

Peppers thrive in the Southeast’s hot summers, and there are few pests that bother them. Many varieties are suitable for small gardens and container gardens. Generally, smaller peppers are easier to grow for beginners than large bell peppers. Smaller peppers usually ripen more quickly and are less likely to lodge or need additional support.

You’ll need to start peppers indoors. They will germinate and grow well only in warm soil. Smaller varieties like Balik Hot peppers, Doe Hill Golden Sweet Bell peppers, Jalapeños, Feherozon Sweet Bell, and Sweet Banana peppers are great options for beginners.

Sweet Genovese Basil (Ocimum basilicum)
Sweet Genovese Basil

Basil

Herbs can be tricky, but basil is typically very easy to grow. You can start plants indoors, or direct sow once the soil is 60°F or warmer. Basil is also incredibly productive. You only need a couple of plants for a huge harvest. Harvesting or pinching basil encourages the plant to grow bushier.

There are many great basil varieties to try from classics like Sweet Genovese to colorful varieties like Red Rubin or unique flavors like Cinnamon.

Marketmore 76 Cucumber
Marketmore 76 Cucumber

Cucumber

Cumbers are fun to grow and fun to eat. Some varieties are ready to harvest in as little as 55 days. You can trellis cucumbers to save space, but it’s also okay to let them sprawl over the ground. They’re great for blocking weeds. 

However, fungal diseases like Downey mildew can be an issue in hot humid climates, so if you’re growing in the southeast, we recommend you start with a disease-resistant variety like Homemade Pickles Pickling cucumbers, Marketmore 76 cucumbers, or Poinsett 76 cucumbers.

Magic Cushaw Winter Squash
Magic Cushaw Winter Squash

Squash

If you have gardener friends, there’s a good chance they’ve given you extra summer squash or zucchini. These crops are so prolific that it’s tough to keep up with just a few plants! Summer squash varieties like Dark Star zucchini, Golden Bush Scallop Summer squash, and Early Prolific Straightneck Summer squash can provide an abundance in a relatively small space. They also mature quickly, making multiple successions throughout the summer possible.

However, in parts of the Southeast, vine borers can wreak havoc on summer squash plantings. If other gardeners in your area deal with them or you don’t want to risk it, opt for a moschata type like Tromboncino Summer squash. This pest-resistant variety is a tasty summer squash when picked green and matures to tan like butternut squash. When fully mature, it has a sweet, nutty flavor, and you can use it like winter squash.

Winter squash is another easy-to-grow option. Just opt for disease and pest tolerant varieties like Magic Cushaw, Seminole pumpkin, and Mrs. Amerson’s Winter Squash. Remember to give these big squashes plenty of space.

Pink Zinnias
Pink Zinnias

Zinnias

Every garden needs a few flowers! Zinnias are among the easiest and most rewarding flowers to grow. Varieties like state fair mix offer a wide range of color in a single pack. Zinnias are annuals, but if you keep them dead-headed, they will continue blooming until frost. Harvesting a few flowers for cut flowers also encourages them to branch and produce more blooms. There are many great zinnias varieties and they are all easy to grow.

Planning your first garden doesn’t have to be difficult. Start a small garden this season with a few of our tried-and-true varieties. 

Garden Advice

Annual Flowers that Bloom All Season + Tips for Continuous Blooms

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Annuals may only last one season, but they are an easy way to add tons of color to the garden. They are easy to grow, affordably started from seed, and are great for filling in gaps in a perennial bed or attracting pollinators to vegetable gardens. These annual flowers also offer the advantage of continuous blooms. With a bit of maintenance, you and the pollinators can enjoy them until they’re killed by frost.

Black Ball Bachelor’s Button in bloom
Black Ball Bachelor’s Button

Bachelor’s Buttons

Bachelor’s buttons are easy to grow from seed. They’re a hardy, low-maintenance option, which is why they’re often included in “wildflower” mixes. Bachelor’s buttons also make wonderful cut flowers for fresh or dried arrangements. Plus, they’re also edible and make adorable natural decorations for baked goods.

We carry three varieties of bachelor’s button:

Bachelor’s buttons thrive in well-drained soil in full sun. It will tolerate partial shade but may not bloom as well. Bachelor’s buttons are also tolerant of poor soils.

Tall Menagerie Mix Celosia
Tall Menagerie Mix Celosia

Celosia

Celosia is a good flower for beginners that makes excellent borders or cut flowers. It blooms throughout summer and fall and offers a wide selection of bright colors. Celosia has unusual flower shapes that add fun texture to fresh and dried arrangements.

The variety we carry, Tall Menagerie Mix, that includes mostly “cockscomb” or “coral” type blooms with some spikes. Menagerie Mix produces sturdy, heat-resistant 3 to 4½ foot tall plants.

Celosia thrives in well-drained, moderately fertile soil in full sun.

Memories of Mona Cosmos
Memories of Mona Cosmos

Cosmos

Cosmos offer some of the biggest bang for your buck. They’re super easy to grow from seed and provide tons of colorful blossoms over a long season. Their large flowers look stunning on their light, feathery foliage.

Cosmos are also great for attracting butterflies and come in a range of colors like white, pink, magenta, orange, and yellow. We carry six cosmo varieties.

Cosmos grow well in full sun in well-drained, average soil.

Naughty Marietta French Marigold
Naughty Marietta French Marigold

Marigolds

Marigolds are the classic companion plants for vegetable gardens. Their bright blooms attract beneficial insects all summer long. There’s some evidence that they deter pests. One study found that a particular variety we carry, Golden Guardian, reduces the presence of nematodes more effectively than chemical insecticides.

We carry nine marigold varieties in a range of patterns and colors, including yellow, orange, golden, red, and red-purple.

Marigolds thrive in moist, well-drained soil where they receive full sun.

Balcony Petunia
Balcony Petunia

Petunias

Petunias are incredibly popular though most people only find the over-priced containers of petunias at big box stores. Thankfully, petunias are easy to grow from seed in the garden or containers. Homegrown petunias will offer blooms over a much longer season and are more affordable.

We carry two petunia varieties and both will bloom until frost.

Petunias like full sun and moist, well-drained soil.

Pink Zinnias
Pink Zinnias

Zinnias

Zinnias are among the easiest flowers to grow and offer a near rainbow of colors. They bloom from early summer until frost, especially with a little care. They also make excellent cut flowers and cutting theoccasional bouquet will encourage them to branch out and create more blooms.

We offer nine zinnia varieties with a range of shapes, sizes, and colors, including white, light pink, magenta, red, yellow, and light purple.

Zinnias thrive and offer the most blooms in well-drained soil and full sun.

Tips for Continuous Blooms

Here are a few tips to keep your garden blooming until frost.

  • Space your plants appropriately. Adequate space and airflow makes for healthy plants that will bloom over a longer period. Zinnias in particular are susceptible to Downey mildew. Providing good air circulation is key to reducing the risk of mildew and other fungal diseases.

  • Follow sunlight requirements. Unfortunately, all of these plants bloom best in full sun. If you don’t have a garden bed that receives plenty of sunlight, you can grow many of these like marigolds, petunias, and zinnias in containers on a sunny patio, balcony, or even window box.

  • Add compost to the bed. Flowers aren’t heavy feeders, but they benefit from moderately fertile soil. Adding finished compost is a great way to ensure you provide nutrient-rich soil without over-fertilizing.

  • Water consistently. These annual flowers are fairly tolerant, but for the best blooms, they’ll likely benefit from some watering, particularly during dry spells.

  • Regularly deadhead your flowers. Most annual flower benefits from deadheading every one to two weeks. When you deadhead flowers like zinnias, cosmos, and marigolds it encourages them to keep blooming to try to produce seed. If you want to save seed, let some blooms go to seed at the end of summer.