Gardening in Minnesota – Tips for Winter

Gardening in Minnesota – Tips for Winter

With the harsh winters of Minnesota, it is important to care for your garden in the winter to make sure it is ready come spring. Here are a few things you can do each month this winter to make your garden the best it can be:

December

Install lights for indoor plants in northern regions where winter day length is the shortest.
After the soil freezes, add a blanket of shredded leaves or other mulch on the ground around perennials.
Check root crops and apples for signs of spoiling. Toss any that have begun to rot.
Break off and dispose of sprouts on potatoes
Chop and freeze onions that are starting to get soft.
Stay off frozen grass to avoid wearing a path in the lawn.

January

Rinse off the leaves of houseplants. To get excess salts out of the soil, let the water run freely through the pots for several minutes.
Begin planning what you will want to plant in the spring.
Study gardening magazines and seeds catalogs and decide which supplies you will need come spring.

February

For cool-season crops such as broccoli, cabbage and lettuce, start the seeds indoors so it will be easy to transplant in early spring. However, if you live in an extremely cold zone, postpone this step until March.
You can also start slow-growing, flower seeds like pansy, stock, and viola indoors.
Decide which new vegetables you want to grow this year and draw a plan for your vegetable garden.
Keep shrubs thriving by only removing a third of the oldest stems at ground level. Plan on doing this step at the same time every year.

Sources: Midwest Living Magazine; Neil Dylla, master gardener at Northwestern Health Sciences University