Do these winter gardening tasks- indoors and out – to get a head start on your Spring and Summer garden.
When it’s the deep of winter, your garden might be the last thing on your mind.
Granted, it’s hard to imagine sweating away in the garden when it’s currently covered in a foot of snow.
But even though it’s frigid outdoors, there are some important tasks we can still do to get ready for the upcoming planting season.
Honestly, thinking ahead to sunnier days can be really therapeutic when you’re lacking some natural Vitamin D.
So, let’s get organized and work ahead, for an even more productive garden this year.
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Plan your Garden Space
One of the biggest winter gardening tasks, and the one you should do first, is to plan out your garden.
Get specifics on paper by mapping out your garden space, and deciding how much room you have to plant.
This is especially helpful if you’ve recently expanded your garden or are starting a new plot.
Decide what vegetables, fruits or herbs you want to grow
Make a list of your desired plants for this year’s garden.
Then:
- Research how much room each plant needs
- Decide where you’re going to plant each one
- Determine how many plants you can fit in each row or raised bed.
Don’t forget to leave room for companion plants you might want to add for pest control and other benefits, too.
This book has been my favorite resource for companion planting.
Keep in mind you can rotate spring, summer and fall plantings in the same beds, so you might want three drawings to represent each planting season.
A clear plan can prevent wasted seeds, pest problems, and much more.
Inventory and Organize Your Seeds
You might have an idea of what seeds you already own, but it really helps to do a quick inventory.
Write down how many of each type of seed you have, and then organize them if you haven’t already.
I use simple clear storage bags and group seeds into categories such as “lettuce, spinach, chards”.
Those bags go into a clear container that’s about the width of each bag, so they’re easy to quickly thumb through.
*You may also want to divide your direct-sow seeds versus seeds that need to be started indoors ahead of time.
Order Seeds
Now that you know what you have, you can decide what you actually need to purchase.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve purchased seeds that I already owned in abundance! So, the inventory step is really important before ordering more seeds.
Seeds can last at least a few years (depending on the type), in optimal conditions.
But they don’t last forever, so I’m careful not to order more than I know I’ll plant in the next few seasons.
See my guide for the best places to buy seeds online, if you’re looking for quality, reputable seed suppliers.
Inventory Garden Supplies
Same as with seeds, it’s really helpful to organize and inventory all the supplies you might have, such as:
- Seed starter trays and plant tags
- Soil
- Amendments: compost, fertilizer, worm castings, perlite, etc
- Gloves (I am really good at destroying these)
- Grow lights
- Garden tools
- Plant supports: tomato cages, trellises, cattle panels
- Twine
After you can easily tell what you already have, you can make a list of what you might need to replace or buy this year.
Don’t forget bigger items like fencing, raised beds or wheelbarrows.
Tip: unlike seeds, I would wait on buying most garden supplies and infastructure until closer to planting time, when these things typically go on sale.
The only supplies I usually buy in the winter are seed-starting items such as trays and a seed starting medium, if needed.
And sometimes, I’ll find deeply discounted potting soil or garden dirt from the previous season that’s worth buying before the Spring shipments arrive. (Check smaller hardware stores).
Finish garden clean-up
We’ve all had those times, I’m sure, when our good intentions surrendered to other business at hand, and the fall garden clean-up got pushed aside.
This is particularly a task for no-till gardens, which require a lot of cleanup and soil-building efforts before the next season starts.
A sunny Winter day makes a great opportunity to finish up those tasks.
Pull up any remaining plants and weeds. If you still have fallen leaves or straw, use them to cover your rows or garden beds.
This will still help break down some nutrients and start to build new soil material before Spring.
Maintain & supply compost bins
I sometimes want to forget about the compost bin in the winter.
But it’s always worth it to keep adding fruit and vegetable scraps (greens) and paper goods (browns), year around.
Think: toilet paper rolls, newspaper, cardboard scraps…all of those things can help balance out the composition of your compost.
No need to let organic materials go to waste, when they can become rich food for your plants later on.
Don’t forget to turn the bins, too. A rotating bin can be really handy.
I have one of these as a second bin to help speed along the process.
Stirring or flipping your compost is important in the cold months when things are breaking down very slowly.
Prepare raised beds or DIY infrastructure
Depending on your climate, there might not be a lot of labor you can actually do IN the garden.
But a few things I’ve done are: assemble raised beds in the shed or garage, and gather limbs and twigs to layer in the bottom of them.
(See How to Fill Raised Garden Beds Cheaply for more ideas.)
We had an winter storm recently, and my family gathered the smaller fallen limbs and piled them beside the garden so I could start layering them once the beds are ready.
Limbs can also be used for creating your own trellises or plant supports.
Shredded paper, leaves and cardboard also make free raised bed material, or can be used in lasagna gardening methods.
Storing recycled paper goods in one spot in the basement or garage can make it easy to keep adding layers to the garden throughout winter.
Prune fruit trees
Pruning can fall under either late-winter or early spring tasks.
You will want time to research how to prune, and when, for each variety of tree you have.
But in general, late winter – at least a few weeks before the last frost – is when you want to prune, while trees are still dormant.
Prepare Seed Starting Soil
If you use a premixed potting soil, you won’t have to do much except to go and purchase it.
But if you like to mix your own seed-starting medium, you might want to go ahead and source your materials. This will save you time once you’re actually ready to start seeds.
Remember, you probably don’t need to buy all your soil and amendments for the growing season at this point; you just need a basic lightweight mix with a few nutrients for now.
This winter, I mixed my seed-starting components in a wheelbarrow during a recent warm week. Then I transferred them to 5-gallon buckets to store in my mudroom.
Breaking down tasks into smaller parts like this can really help the gardening overwhelm-factor as Spring approaches.
Start spring seeds
Finally, the fun part! You can actually start seedlings in mid to late winter in most zones.
There are many vegetables in my area (7a) that need to be started indoors or in a greenhouse quite early (12 or more weeks before the last frost).
As you’re making your garden-planning lists, be sure to note when each seed needs to be started.
Set aside those early-spring seeds so you don’t overlook them, and follow your calendar.
For example, this year I’m starting at the end of January:
- Snapdragons
- Clancy True Potato Seeds
- Celery
- Brocolli
- Onions
- Cold-Hardy lettuces
Some of these are very slow-growing and I won’t actually plant them outdoors until later in the Spring.
And some, such as broccoli and onions, need to be planted outside in early Spring. They can handle a little frost once they’re established in the garden.
In any event, it never hurts to give yourself some wiggle room in case seeds do not germinate well and you need to start over.
Read our Seed Starting Guide for more helpful tips.
Winter gardening tasks make gardening easier
You’ll be so glad you got a head start on your garden, before the ground even thaws.
If you need more help planning your garden during winter, our Everything Garden Planner contains 52 pages of planning worksheets to help you organize all the tasks in this post, plus so much more throughout the growing season. Be sure to take a look!
You might also like:
How to Start Seedlings Indoors (Step by Step)
Best Sources for Quality Garden Seeds
Cheap Ways to Fill Raised Garden Beds