The Dormant Season: Safe Lawn and Garden In '23

With the days of spring and summer long behind us, it’s easy to forget about our lawns and gardens in the dormant seasons, as the days grow shorter and nights colder. Truth is, now is a great time to be proactive about your lawn in order to have a great spring and summer next year. Even if you’ve just put away the lawn furniture out and harvested the last of your tomatoes, there’s plenty you can do to get out in the garden.

Though those winter rains may be keeping your garden beds soggy, and you know it’s too soon to plant, we all feel that urge to get out there in the back yard. While your garden center may tell you to keep the lettuce starts inside, gardening experts suggest some ways to scratch that gardening itch.

Start with mulch in garden beds and around trees and shrubs. All that nice fresh wood chip or mulch that looked so good last summer is probably a little bedraggled after the winter. Some may have started to rot into the soil, or maybe the rain and run-off has left bare spots.

Fluff up old mulch with a rake, and add new to a depth of at least two to four inches. The dormant season doesn't necessarily kill all of your plants, in fact, it is an essential part of the circadian rhythm for some of your annuals.

Did you never get around to trimming shrubs and pruning your trees this fall? Well, it’s not too late. Before they start to bud, while the plants are leaving their dormant, look at your plantings carefully — and from different angles — to decide what kind of shape you want them to be. Go slow, take a few days and trim a little at a time.

Prepping For The Dormant Season Is Important

Pruning before the dormant season can be a wise move for some plants, especially big ones. Areas that can receive a lot of snow can add a lot of unnecessary weight on some plants causing them to break. Which can ultimately kill a plant or make them grow crooked.

Map your garden beds. Maybe you forgot to draw a map when you planted bulbs last fall, or you lost it. Now’s the time, as early-bloomers start to come up: sketch where the sprouts are in the garden so you’ll know where to put your annuals and perennials without damaging bulbs as those plants fade.

There’s plenty more to do to get ready for next spring, and eventually the day will come when it’ll feel great after the winter to get out and get started. Breathe the air and smell the soil. Truly appreciate everything around you. When the dormant season starts it'll be a while before you'll be able to plant. Even planting indoors during the dormant season can make it very difficult to sustain plants growing indoors. 

Now is also the perfect time to think about your lawn irrigation solutions for next spring. Whether you’re a homeowner or you run a business, your lawn offers an unforgettable first impression, so why not turn to a smart, efficient solution such as the ones we offer at Smart Rain? Get in touch with us today to find out more.

Your garden will thank you for it — sooner than you think!