Maintaining the garden in August and getting ready for winter?

How can revive the garden in August so that I will have flowers for this month and September.


How to preapare the garden for the winter and so that I will get the most next spring-summer

Maintaining the garden in August and getting ready for winter?
It depends on the contents of the garden... if some things need to be pruned back, prune them. If there are things that will live through winter, keep them watered and fed. If you are just wanting to prepare the soil for future plantings in Spring, add some fresh soil, enriched with nutrients. You could also add some compost.
Reply:There are many varieties of fall flowering annuals that can be added to your flower garden to add color and diversity. They can be planted into the soil or in pots and scattered around the garden.


In preparing a flower garden for winter, you should remove all dead annuals and then cover the soil with a good mulch. Any plants with stems (like roses) that will be left should be protected from the drying winter winds and also have a good layer of mulch around the roots. Putting in posts near the plant and wrapping the area with burlap will help keep the stems protected. In the spring, remove the burlap and posts and wash away the mulch around the roots to let the young shoots get light and air.


In a garden plot where the soil will be tilled every year, planting winter wheat and tilling it under in the spring will act as a green manure and add organic matter to the soil. Also a layer of manure or compost will leach it's nutirents down into the soil during the winter and then be tilled under in the spring. If the soil is lacking organic matter, even a layer of untreated wood mulch let set over winter and then tilled under will help the enrich the soil. I have also tilled the soil in the fail, leave the furrows open and placed manure in the furrows and let it set over the winter, giving the soil a "deep feeding". Check your soil with a test kit in the spring and then add any ammendments, like lime or fertilizer, after you have tilled the soil again.