Winterize Your Yard – South

South

• Switch fertilizers – Don’t stop feeding annuals and veggies when temperatures hover around freezing.  Just substitute a nitrate for nitrate based fertilizer; it’s easier to absorb in cold overcast weather
• Prepare fragile plants for frost – To protect camellia buds, banana shrubs and tender succulents on frosty nights, cover them before sunset with sheets or blankets.  Uncover during the day, to let plants warm.  And don’t use plastic – this can cook the plants.

For most everywhere:

• Mulch Generously – Two inches of shredded bark, leaves or pine needles insulate plants and soil from the frost and winter’s drying wind and sun.
• Trim Grass – Mow down to 2 1/2 to 3 inches in height before it goes dormant.  Then rake thoroughly to keep bugs from building nests.
• Remove Dead Leaves – In wet clumps they smother grass, shelter insects and breed disease.  Mulch those on the lawn with your mower for natural fertilizer.
• Rototill Veggie Gardens – Remove any remains of the past season’s crops which can become diseased.  Turn up 8 inches; this exposes most destruction insects, such as grubs, and their eggs to birds and the cold.

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