After enjoying a long, warm, bountiful growing season in your Square Foot Garden, winter may seem like a dreary letdown. But by properly putting your Square Foot Garden “to bed” for the winter, you will be setting yourself up for gardening success next spring.
Start by cleaning up your Square Foot Garden. When the first frost for your area is approaching, be sure to harvest the last of your warm season crops. If you are growing any cool season crops, continue to care for them until they’re ready to harvest. Remove spent plants, shake off as much Mel’s Mix as you can and, if they are not diseased add them to your compost bin. Clear away any debris, sticks, leaves, and weeds. It’s best not to add weeds to your compost bin, so just throw them out.
Tip:
When removing healthy plants, rinse the excess Mel’s Mix from the root ball into a bucket of water. That way, you can save the vermiculite that washes off, then pour the water back over your garden squares.
To extend the growing season, consider building a cold frame over an SFG bed that will act like a mini greenhouse to keep the soil and plants inside warm during the winter.
Repair or replace any damaged beds and, if needed, refill them with a fresh batch of Mel’s Mix. Remove, clean, and store your grid, stakes, cages, trellises and summer decorations. Most of us hate to see things go to waste, or recycle anything that is damaged or unsightly.
Once your SFG beds are cleaned out, add a layer of compost to the top of each bed, mix it in and smooth it over. Then add a 2” layer of organic mulch to help protect your Mel’s Mix and the nutrients it contains over the winter. Soil is full of bacteria, fungi, and microbes. A handful of healthy soil can contain more microorganisms than there are people on Earth. Your Mel’s Mix is the perfect gardening soil, and it takes time and money to create, so it’s worth protecting over the winter.
Don’t forget to clean up and repair the walkways between your SFG beds. Remove any weeds and put down a fresh layer of either organic or inorganic mulch, a thick layer of wood chips work well. Drain any drip irrigation, grids and hoses if you live in a winter climate.
There’s not a lot of work to do in your SFG once you’ve “put it to bed” for the winter, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it until spring. Why not decorate it for the holidays? For Thanksgiving, make a decorative arrangement out of hay bales, dried corn, and pumpkins in an SFG bed. For Christmas, use your imagination to make holiday displays out of your SFG beds. Tie a colorful bow around each box, and place colorful fabrics, greenery, pine cones, poinsettias, and outdoor Christmas lights to decorate each box and trellis.
Be sure to take some time to reflect on the past growing season. A Square Foot Gardening Planner is a great way to remember your successes and failures and plan for next spring. Jot down some notes about this season’s SFG, including ideas for improvement and how specific plant varieties performed.
