Winter Time Garden Blues

Garden Blues ~ It's Winter Time ! 

 Santa sure wasn't listening when I said all I wanted for Christmas was ...SPRING !

What to do now, as winter has settled in for the long haul and has caused a claustrophobic reaction to set off in my brain!?

There are actually several things that you could and/or should do during this time.
Some of these things are outdoors as weather permits and some are indoors where it is nice and cozy.

First off let me just say that we had some decent weather here in my neck of the woods for the last week. The temps during the day were about 50-60 degrees and somewhat rainy. Despite the rain, getting some things done outside was very do-able. First thing I did was a walk around our designated yard area and picked up all the limbs that had broken off and fell to the ground as a result of some very windy days. The bigger limbs were broken up for the wood pile as kindling and the smaller ones along with the already decaying ones went to a pile to add to my compost area (that area has actually not been designated yet, but is in the works....more on that later!) All picked up the yard looks much better from the windows. Whilst I was bending over and picking up I noticed something I had never really noticed in the winter before:

WEEDS

Yep, all Green and healthy!

At that very moment, well a few minutes later after walking around a good bit of the yard to see how many weeds....... it started to rain again......  so, in the house I went (cold and wet is not something I care to experience, unless of course snow balls or sledding are the cause) I really did stare out the window and ponder about those dang weeds just laughing a me and the cold as that rain came down! Aurgh, can I kill them now? Surely, you can.... soooo, I googled away and the following is what I found.

Weeds for the most part are annuals or biennials, some are perennials. They all look evergreen to me! These weeds sprout during fall  and develop into a small lush plant and may even set seed during the winter. Some of the ones I just found are flowering and so there may be others that have thrown their nasty seed down already! I don't promote chemical use so you will have to google that yourself for a good pre- or sub-emergence weed killer. I'm old school (as in: cheap and poor, LOL) so I pull those little buggers! The ground is saturated which helps, but it also means cold and wet to crawl around on the ground to end at least some of these weeds life cycle. I should have asked Santa for a long handled weeding fork! My soon-to-be DH might not like it if I clamp a paddle drill bit or similar tool to an old broom handle, but it is a tempting thought, ssh!

Speaking of tools:   

Last winter I got crazy with wood and tools.

 

We like our feathered friends and have been doing alot of bird watching over coffee every morning. We keep the bird book handy (Birds of North America Golden Field Guides from St. Martin's Press) and refer to it when we notice a different bird that we aren't use to seeing. We found that birds will use bird boxes/houses in the winter time to keep warm if they don't migrate and we have lots of birds fighting or sharing the small single family boxes we have built for around our place. Sooo, I decided to make more bird boxes.

They are easy to make and don't need to be perfect. Check out this website:  A Home for Wild Birds   http://www.a-home-for-wild-birds.com/building-a-bird-house.html   It is really helpful with building boxes and feeders and tons more stuff! I also made feeders. 

These projects will definitely keep you and your hands busy over the winter, with results that are beneficial on so many different levels and have interest in all four seasons! Right now, it is funny to watch one of our Blue Bird families try to fit the whole brood into their nesting box; 6 birds in all. It's like watching a circus act!             

 TIP: if you don't have trees, mount your bird boxes on a post just like a tree or on top of it~ for on the top, I make my boxes with a flat bottom that fits over the whole bottom of the box and put a screw in each corner then remove them taking the bottom back off and drill the holes it made in the box with a little bit bigger screw or drill bit. Replace the screws to the bottom board only and sit on top of your post with the screws pointing up.. Take 3 screws and secure the bottom of the box to the post. Now just slide your box down onto the screws sticking up from the bottom piece; it shouldn't be too tight or too loose, you want to be able to remove the box to clean it out each spring. :-)

TREES

Now that is another winter to do thing!

The best time to trim most trees is through Fall and Winter,

~EXCEPT MY PRIVET~

Careful that you don't cut off all the flower buds on the ones that bloom from the previous years growth. This includes bushes too. I only cut these a little if I don't like the way they look now or if I didn't trim them enough right after they flowered.

There are lots of things to do in the winter that actually revolves around your yard and gardens. Some are fun and some are chores.

But I'll tell ya, I would gladly do the chores if it keeps me busy with gardening stuff.

( The dishes can wait ! )

 Here are a few other ideas:

• Since you are already searching the web you can google photos of different types of gardens to give you some eye candy for possible gardens of your own. (Like Sun, Shade, Wet, Dry, etc...)
• Search for seed suppliers. Usually they have free catalogs (w/pictures) they will send to you. I usually don't order but they give me some visuals of popular plants and the information about them. It exposes you to plants that you may not have known about too!
• Besides bird stuff you can make garden signs, plant markers, flower boxes, make a trellis, draw up a new garden design with all the new and exciting things you found on the web ( I write stuff down in a little note pad )
• If you have manure, leaves, and small branches available to you..... it is not too late to compost! It will still 'cook' up nicely.

Have fun and enjoy!

Remember Spring Will Come:

EVENTUALLY