By Sally McCabe, PHS Associate Director of Community Education 

With the holidays right around the corner, many may think December is a dreary time in the garden. However, there is still plenty to do, including garden planning and reflection, cleaning up and organizing, planting bulbs for spring, and taking advantage of evergreens for holiday decorating. 

Here are some key things gardeners should tackle this month to prepare for winter and bring some of the garden indoors with them during the dark winter months.  

Start with Some Garden Planning!

Walk around your garden with a pad and pen, and write stuff down: 

• What worked in the garden this year? 
• What didn’t work? 
• What do you need more of next year? Less? 
• What repairs are needed before spring planting?   

Write it ALL down now, before you forget! Those notes will come in handy when you start planning next year’s garden. (HINT: it’s only a few months until February, so you’d better start planning soon!)

Assess your Vegetable Garden 

Anything that is still alive will probably hold outdoors until that deep frost week when the temperature doesn’t get above freezing. Until then, keep harvesting as needed and set up protection against the weight of any snow that might appear in the next month.  If you have built cold frames, make sure to vent them on sunny days; we forget sometimes that although it’s 35 degrees outside, it could be 100 degrees under the covers. 

Mow the Lawn One More Time 

Mow the lawn once more, and rake up thatch, since letting it sit on top of the grass all winter promotes mold. Thatch can be disposed of in your compost bin. Try to run your lawn mower until it runs out of gas, since that’s a lot easier than trying to drain it. Trust me: gasoline goes bad over the winter! Flip it over and clean all the debris out from underneath; sharpen the blades if they need it. Then flip it upright and be sure to store it in a dry place for the winter. It’s also important to make sure you keep some oil in your lawnmower, and if needed, take it in for a tune-up, that way it’s ready in the spring without waiting six weeks for an appointment.  

With how mild of a fall we’ve had, there is still plenty of time for planting bulbs, but you should aim to get them in the ground before New Year’s.  The ground may not be frozen by that point, but you’ll be creeping up on the bulbs’ required time in the ground needed to develop properly before spring. in the event we get a crazy early spring thaw, this puts your bulbs at risk of stunted growth.  

Force Some Bulbs Indoors 

December is also a wonderful time to force bulbs (tricking them into blooming) indoors, like Amaryllis and paperwhites. Amaryllis and paperwhites are the easiest, and probably still available in the box stores, hidden underneath all the holiday stuff. If you kept last year’s bounty, you could jump in your time machine, go back 6 to 8 weeks, and send them into dormancy by withholding water and light. No access to a Wayback Machine? Start withholding water and light now, so you can force them into bloom in March.

Bring In the Last of Your Houseplants 

I was surprised last week to realize I had missed a bunch of my houseplants in the yard, and they were still hanging on!  So, before we all start spending our time drinking hot chocolate by the heater, let’s make sure we don’t leave any straggler houseplants out there in the cold. Here’s what you need to know about bringing houseplants indoors for the winter.

Get To Work on a Holiday Wreath, Garland, or Centerpiece 

Convince your friends with evergreens that the first week of December really is the best time to prune. Those with evergreens can take this time to shape shrubs to better fit their space while you collect scraps to make wreaths, centerpieces, flower arrangements and other stuff to brighten what’s otherwise the darkest time of the year. Whether you’re putting together your first wreath or one hundredth one, here are pro-tips for how to make a wreath. 

Give the Gift of Gardening 

In this season of holiday gifting, consider giving friends, family, and loved ones memberships to local botanical gardens, arboretums, or nature centers for the holidays. Gifting a membership supports the organization AND keeps on giving throughout the year. Add an extra person to these and you might even get invited along!  

Although many of us are ready to cozy up by a fire and spend time indoors during these short, dark days, there are still a few outstanding tasks gardeners can tend to prepare their gardens for winter, as well as bring some of the gardening indoors with them. Follow this shortlist and you’ll be planting a foundation for springtime success!