Winter has moved across the country and this has inhibited lovers of gardening from practicing their passion. It shouldn’t. There are a number of gardening tricks you can employ to help extend the gardening season.
You’d probably be aware of at least three gardening tricks you can use if you thought about it. In fact, the ideas are probably deep in your gardener’s memory and need just a little reminder to get them out.
They are:
• Adjusting soil temperature
• Moving your garden indoors
• Creating a greenhouse
Adjusting Soil Temperature
One easy way to warm up the soil of your outdoor garden during winter is to use compost. The organisms that appear in stored waste generate heat as they break down the organic material. Adding a layer of this to your plant beds will increase the temperature of the soil and allow warmer climate plants to grow in cooler regions.
Moving Your Garden Indoors
You probably know the trick of starting with cuttings and growing plants indoors and then transplanting them to your outdoor garden. You have also probably used pots to grow plants indoors. Why not grow plants in pots both indoors and outdoors. Having sensitive plants that may not make it through the winter in pots permits you to move the plants indoors when the first frost of winter appears.
There are a few basic things to keep in mind when doing this. They are soil, sunlight, and water. Of course, good soil is essential because plants get nutrients from it. You can use the good soil you already have in your outdoor garden as a source of nutrients for plants that permanently remain in pots.
To assure that the plants get the proper amount of sunlight, you can place the potted plants next to a window. Bay and bow windows would be ideal because they offer a ledge on which to put the pots. If you aren’t fortunate enough to have these styles of windows, don’t fret. Any window can be modified with a shelf that can be used to host the potted plants.
Keep the plants permanently in their pots and move them from inside to outside and back inside depending on the season.
Creating A Greenhouse
We have articles here at Lawneq that describe how to construct a greenhouse. As you probably know, a greenhouse is a passive structure that allows the warmth of the sun through its clear panels to heat the interior and provide a warm environment for plants that are inside. You can add compost to help heat the space inside the greenhouse as well.
Constructing a greenhouse is not difficult. You can use wood or PVC pipe with clear plastic stretched over it. If the warmth from the sun and compost does not provide enough heat for the plants, you can add a small heater.
