What the Best-Dressed Beds Are Wearing This Winter

Reader Contribution by Staff
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Veggie production slows to a feeble crawl as winter sets in, but below ground, microorganisms in the soil keep working year-round. To support this process, you can mulch over beds with leaves, grass clippings, straw, or another biodegradable material, or grow cold-hardy cover crops

Letting your beds go through winter naked is a cruel option that exposes soil to the triple threat of compaction from rain and ice, erosion caused by wind and water, and nutrient loss from leaching. Mulches and cover crops cushion and protect the soil, and as they decompose they improve the soil’s ability to retain nutrients by increasing its organic matter content.

Use leaves, stockpiled grass clippings, old hay, or whatever you have to tuck in your beds for winter.

Consider Your Options

At this late date, mulch is the most practical option for most of us. Use whatever you can get your hands on, and pile it on thick. You can keep mulching all through winter if you don’t have snow, because there is no such thing as too much winter mulch. In spring, when you want your beds to dry out and warm up, simply rake the mulch into pathways, or pile it up and re-use it later on, when your plants are up and growing. 

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