How to prepare a garden plot and a country house for winter

The gardening season is ending. It remains for a small matter — to prepare the plot and the country house for winter, so that in the spring without extra effort and expense to get back to work.

Preparation of a garden plot and a country house for winter

Trees and shrubs

Let's start with fruit and berry bushes and trees. After the termination of the vegetation of tree and shrub species, it is useful to loosen the soil, which will contribute to greater penetration of autumn and spring precipitation into it. At the same time, organic and mineral fertilizers can be applied.

If the bushes are located on a slope, be sure to dig deep furrows across it or at least make earthen rollers: this will prevent the soil from being washed away.

Raspberry shoots are best untied from the trellises and pinned to the ground. Black currants and gooseberries need to be hilled with soil for 10-12 cm . It is better to tie young bushes and trees so that they are not destroyed by snow.

When the leaf fall is finally completed, planned pruning can be carried out. Just do it in sunny weather before the onset of cold weather! Wrap the trunks of young trees with a belt of roofing or roofing material — this will protect them from rodents (the lower part of the belt is deepened into the ground by 5-10 cm). A burlap is laid between the roofing material and the trunk, and the belt itself is whitewashed so that in February-March the bark does not get heat burns. Do not write off the grandfather's method — winding trunks with nylon tights. Mice don't like them, and the bark doesn't get under them. To protect against hares, young trees are traditionally tied with coniferous lapnik, directing it with needles downwards, starting from the ground itself.

To protect the trunks from frost damage, on a sunny frosty day whitewash garden trees with lime solution or water-based paint. It is advisable to add mouse poison to the solution in order to protect against rodents.

Cover the trunk circles with peat, humus or just soil taken from the aisles to protect the roots of trees from freezing.

Plants

It is necessary to remove faded inflorescences, trim perennials so that flower beds acquire a neat, well-groomed appearance. Biennials and perennials remain in the open ground for the winter. Most of them are frost-resistant and do not require shelter for the winter, but in snowless winters with severe frosts, perennial and biennial plants can freeze, especially newly planted ones, so they should be covered. When sheltering plants, it is necessary to follow the appropriate rules to avoid their death.

Plants are more likely to die in winter not so much from frosts as from «big water», sudden temperature changes and too early germination during warming. Therefore, the main purpose of winter shelter is to protect plantings from dampness and to weaken temperature fluctuations, especially during thaws, which alternate with frosts and the formation of an ice crust. Before the shelter, the site must be provided with drainage drains that exclude stagnation of water. It is extremely dangerous to shelter overwintering plants too early, since in a warm winter they can ripen. The best time for shelter can be considered the onset of frost (5-7 degrees below zero), which ensures the freezing of the soil to a depth of 3-5 cm.

Dry wood leaf (broad-leaved species), peat, humus are used as a shelter. The type and thickness of the protective layer are determined by the peculiarities of wintering of certain plant species. If peat or humus is used, then after the appearance of a frozen crust, the plants are first covered with them, and with the onset of more severe frosts, a tree leaf is applied on top. In the spring, as soon as the snow comes down, the shelter is removed, also in two steps.

Happy owners of beautiful roses need to trim the buds, inflorescences and unripe branches (the main pruning of roses can be postponed until spring). Prickly royal flowers are covered with dry ventilated peat at a temperature of 5-10 degrees below zero, when the frosts last for a week.

Autumn is the best time for lawn care. At this time, combing, surface loosening and "repair" of lawns are carried out. When the grass stops growing, it is necessary to mow it for the last time. So that the fallen leaves do not drown out the grass before winter, they are raked. If the soil is very wet or frozen, you should not walk on the lawn.

Country house

The country house needs to be de-energized. To do this, simply unscrew the plugs or turn off the power supply on the switchboard.

Do not forget about the plumbing, if you have it in your house. It is necessary to drain the water from all the pipes, otherwise they may simply burst in the cold. The same applies to heating systems using water as a heat carrier. Pay attention to closed containers with liquids: in case of severe cold weather, they may suffer the same fate. Therefore, either hide them in a warm cellar, and if there is none, take them with you or free them from the contents.

It is better not to leave gas cylinders at the dacha — you never know who of the intruders can get to you in winter.

Do not leave anything in the house that can serve as food for rodents. In the winter hungry time, mice are very actively attacking suburban villages, so the presence of something edible will serve as a reason for them to choose your house.

And take care in advance of reliable locks on the doors, as well as iron bars or shutters on the windows. Practice shows that boarded-up windows are not an insurmountable barrier for country thieves.

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