Gardening and Landscaping Stack Exchange
Gardening and Landscaping Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [winter-gardening]

For gardening during the winter season

Most gardens are dormant during the winter season as deciduous trees are without their leaves, and evergreens slow down. Frosts also hamper gardening activities due to potential plant damage and frozen ground. This limits winter gardening activities to maintenance type activities, and preparing for spring.

Use this tag for all questions about gardening during the winter months.

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Are household LED bulbs suitable as supplemental light for plants?

I live at a fairly northerly latitude where we have limited hours of daylight during the winter. Low-wattage (5-8W) white LED bulbs seem to be becoming more common as a household light source. Do these LED bulbs provide suitable light for growing…
Ben Mordue
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Is there a fast-growing, inexpensive privacy plant that can be started in winter?

I live in a flatshare, in a room on the ground floor (first floor for North Americans). To prevent people from looking into our rooms all the time (there's a parking lot in front), we have outdoor blinds/screens (about 5ft/1.5m high and 15ft/4.5m…
Pekka
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How to automatically vent a cold frame during the Winter?

I am working on building a cold frame and have purchased a Univent automatic opener to vent the cold frame by lifting the lid/light. However the Univent opener is not supposed to subjected to freezing temperatures or it will break. That is…
spesh
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What color should a greenhouse be?

I'm shopping for a greenhouse to protect my tropical fruit trees from winter frosts. While browsing, I noticed that greenhouses are predominantly green or clear. What are the advantages of each color? I don't quite see the advantage of a green…
JoJo
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What is considered a "cool climate" for cool climate plants? Can these plants better survive temporary frost?

Is a "cool climate" one that doesn't freeze? Is it one that doesn't freeze until such-and-such a month? Or is it one where the temperature almost always stays above freezing? Related to this, would "cool climate" plants have a resistance to…
Peach
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What are good plants to use in a container-based winter garden?

I live in an apartment that has a small outdoor patio and I'm looking to create a little container garden this autumn/winter. I'm located in the US (hardiness zone is 7) and I'm looking for ideas (plants) that might work well in this environment.…
Steed-Asprey
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Miniature Rose Wintering

I have a miniature rose plant growing in a large (about 2 foot cubed) container outside, where it has been doing very well. The bush is about 3 feet tall now, and I've had it since February (started it indoors, then moved it outside once the weather…
Amanda_A
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Good winter vegetables in hardiness zone 8B?

It's late November now, and I'm contemplating what would be good vegetables to plant in the next couple weeks. I understand that most things planted now won't be harvestable until spring. I'm in Santa Rosa, California, where we do get frost, but…
freiheit
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Municipality compost frozen

In my area, we get municipal composting. In the winter, we can leave a bin (around 5L) out, and once a week, they pick it up and compost it in their giant compost bins. The problem is now that our temperatures dropped; anywhere from -2C to -25C.…
ashes999
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Can I prune a grape vine in near-freezing weather?

Most of the advice I have seen on when to prune grape vines in the British Isles is "early winter (late November/December)". I had planned to prune a three-year old vine, which is in an unheated greenhouse which is virtually the same air temperature…
jmk
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What vegetables could I grow in an indoor garden in winter?

I live in a city and love gardening, but have no spare room especially for gardening. I am planning to make a garden on my windowsill. I live in the Netherlands, so outdoor temperatures in winter are -5 to 10 °C and I have double glass and the…
Fae
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Solar driven LEDs to offset electricity for mass growing in a basement

I want to grow vegetables in my basement year round. I live in zone 3b, in a rural area and I'd like to start selling produce as well as providing food for my family as well. Ideally, I'd like to build a DIY LED setup, with affordable 100watt LEDs…
Tyler
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Can I grow Basil indoors this winter?

My room temperature is 20-21 °C (68°F) and I plan to put it in front of the window facing east, where the sun rises. But usually where I live there is little actual sunlight: it is usually cloudy, sometimes foggy. Can basil grow in these…
Giancarlo
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What edible plants can be grown in cold climates?

I live in Minnesota (U.S.). It starts to get cold from September (sometimes snows as early as October) until about mid-April (I’ve seen it snow as late as May some years), but I want to do year-round gardening. The daylight hours drop below 10…
MCsuchNsuch
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How to prepare a small vege garden for Toronto's winter?

We have about 5 small garden beds, that we grow tomato, peppers, okra, egg plants etc. After the growing season (Apr - Sep; Toronto, Canada) we usually bury the left over stems and leave the beds exposed for the winter. I have read that covering…
Natkeeran
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