Winterizing Your Home Herb Garden
If you have a herb garden at your home you probably take a lot of pride in the plants that you grow. These plants become very important to you not only because they are used in the food that you eat but also because you have to take care of them so that they will grow. One of the most important aspects of growing your own herb garden is winterizing it. Winterizing a herb garden will be crucial if you want to have plants the following year.
Winterizing a herb garden is something that you will have to worry about especially if you live in a cold climate. If you happen to live in a cold climate you will have to plan out the times when you fertilize your herbs. You will want to make sure that you do not fertilize after early August since new fall growth will be a bad thing. New growth in the early fall is damaging because the plants are tender and will be easily damaged by winter frost. This suggestion is also true for trimming. Trimming should not be done after early august for the same reason that the herbs are not fertilized. Trimming stimulates new growth and will waste the plant’s stored energy.
In truth, winterizing a herb harden is not that difficult. Plants are hardwired by Mother Nature to prepare for winter. As the summer wind down you may notice that your plants are growing much more slowly and that some of the stalks and leaves may wither and die. Do not panic. Your plant is not dead but is in a dormant stage so that it can survive the winter.
The soil that your herbs are planted in should be dryer than normal as winter approaches. Dry soil will prevent the heat from being wicked away from your plants as well as preventing freezing that will crack the roots of the herbs that you have. One thing that you will want to do when winterizing a herb garden is cover the plant with plenty of mulch. Some common things that you can use are pine bark, sawdust, or commercial mulches. Mulch will help insulate your plants and protect the fragile roots from freezing temperatures.
Take care of your plants because they provide you with a flavorful addition to your meals.
Posted in Seasonal Herb Gardening
