Keep spirit of gardening alive in winter by growing herbs indoors
I like winter as a break from the intensity of professional gardening season — but it’s nice to keep the spirit of gardening alive.
Although the outdoor gardening season may be over except for pruning and monitoring for animal damage, you can still garden inside by growing herbs. Try sowing seeds of parsley, oregano, sage, and dwarf basil in clay pots; once they germinate, place them under grow lights and water when they get very dry.
A south-facing window with bright light is perfect, since ideally you want six to eight hours of bright light per day. Fertilize the plants with a half-strength solution of liquid fertilizer.
As for your outdoor garden, keep an eye out for animal damage during the winter and install protection as needed. Tracks are easy to see when there’s fresh snow, but you may not be able to see them after a spell of thawing weather with the snow refreezing into a crust, or during periods without snow cover. Look for gnawed bark at the base of trees and shrubs; rabbits can cause considerable damage over the course of winter by feeding on shrubs, and if snow piles up, they can reach even higher to eat.
Chicken wire works well to keep rabbits at bay. As for deer, hanging soap or hair in branches generally won’t deter them. Instead, use physical barriers like wire or netting to protect plants. Yews and arborvitae are deer favorites.
When temperatures are above 40 degrees Fahrenheit for a few hours, you can apply repellent — but you might need to reapply once a month, or even more often if temperatures are warm with lots of rain.
During bursts of heavy, wet snow, you’ll want to minimize damage to plants by carefully shaking the snow off. Once the snow or ice has frozen on, it’s best to wait and let it melt off, since removing frozen snow or ice from plants can cause considerable damage. Try to avoid piling up snow at the base of plants when shoveling by spreading the snow around as you go.
Happy winter!
• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.