If I had a pound for every time I’ve been asked: “What do gardeners do in winter?” The short answer is: a lot!
The nitty gritty will depend greatly on what the type of garden is and the location of it.
It will depend on staff levels, budgets and specific plants housed within. I can speak only from my experience, but what I’m about to describe is unlikely alien to any fellow gardeners.
If you are a gardener and get asked the famous question then feel free to show them this. It will free you up to get on wi’ all the jobs needing done!
Busy winter = easy summer
Summer is when everyone wants to be a gardener. On a glorious sun drenched day, it’s heaven.
On days like that I have many people come up and say you’re lucky to be doing that job. I agree wholeheartedly. Funnily enough I actually feel exactly the same when it’s bucketing rain or 3ft of snow.
I love the seasons, love the differing weather and love the range of tasks gardening brings. Also, funnily enough, there is seldom anyone comes up to me says how lucky I am to be gardening when it’s mid-November and I’m looking like a drowned rat.
Gardening is all about the prep. Winter is when we prep. If you don’t do the prep you’re going to have a hard summer ahead.
Winter garden tasks
Prep entails many things. The glasshouses and polytunnels need cleaned and sterilised. Clean glass allows more light in.
At this time of year when daylight and length is poor, it vital to get as much as you can. Seedlings will be sown shortly and you want to avoid etiolation.
This is a fancy word for ‘leggy’. Sterilising ensures that any over wintering pests and their eggs are eliminated.
It is crucial to avoid pests early in the season as your carefully raised seedlings are vulnerable. A mass of pests could wipe them out, causing you to start over and you may not catch back up.
All the pots and trays need cleaned ready for the start of the sowing season. The same goes for all the tools in the shed. It’s a great time to clean and resharpen them.
Mowers and machinery are serviced and ready for the season ahead. Sheds are cleaned out and planning for the season ahead gets under way.
Winter planning
Planning may include designing then ordering plants, seeds, plugs etc. and figuring out a sowing schedule.
This is needed to assure seedlings are sown at the right time and there is a consistent flow of sowing.
You may not have the luxury of sowing everything at once if you are doing a large amount.
You also may not have the luxury of having the space to accommodate all the plants if ready at the same time. Staggered schedules and succession sowing is key.
Depending on your role it may also mean office work needing done. Balancing budgets ahead of the new one coming out, doing staff performance reviews, updating the health and safety documents and so on.
Forestry
It is also a good chance to go around and deal with any forestry work needing done. Estates can be scoured for tree issues towards the end of autumn before leaf fall.
Winter during dormancy is then the time to get the saw out and deal with any dodgy branches or fell those that need felled.
Speaking of which, firewood is logged up and split, another chore but one that is very welcome on cold days.
There is all the winter pruning and lawn edges that have gone awry to get lifted and turned 180 degrees to straighten them back up.
The new slit in the middle of the grass that was once the edge will get re-sown in spring.
Snow fun!
Even heavy snow doesn’t stop play. In the event of heavy snow there is a need in some places to do the usual shoving, ploughing and gritting to provide safe access.
There is also the need to do the unglamorous job of using a big broom to bash the inside of the polytunnel to push the snow off.
If too much snow stays on top then it can burst the plastic.
This is especially true if a layer freezes and another downpour of snow lands on top.
Similar issues happen with hedges. Some hedges are vulnerable to splitting open if too much weight from snow is on top. Hence a similarly unglamorous job of knocking snow off the hedges.
Paths and hard surfaces benefit from a power wash and clean to remove grime and moss that may be slippery. So what does a gardener do in winter? An affa lot!
Take care and happy gardening.
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