5 Useful Gardening Tips for Winter - Black & Decker, India

If you have a kitchen garden, you might already know that winter in India can be a great time for gardening, if you are not subject to extreme temperatures. In extreme cold, your only hope of growing something might be if you have an enclosed area like a greenhouse. In other places too, it can be an interesting experience to prepare your garden for the winter climate, and here are some tips:

1.     Grow according to the season: There are a lot of options for winter vegetables, starting from greens like lettuce and herbs, to a variety of vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli. All these do very well in limited sunlight and love the cool weather, so you should get very good results.

2.     Collect leaves for mulch: Autumn and winter is the time when leaves fall in plenty from the neighbourhood trees, and collecting these is a great way to make use of them for mulch later in summer. This way you are saving a lot of trash from the roads, not to mention using rich matter that nature has provided for you instead of it getting burnt and going waste.

3.     Establish a cleaning routine: All the falling leaves, including those falling from your own plants, can make a mess of your garden space very soon. Regular cleaning, at least once a week, is an absolute necessity at this time of the year. Make use of a strong vacuum cleaner for this task, and you won’t find it too difficult.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonlightbulb/6723787519/

4.    Composting: From your kitchen waste, to all the dried leaves from your garden, all of it can be turned into rich organic material, going right back to enriching your soil. Start and promote composting as a practice in every home, and you will be amazed at the reduction in waste going out of your home.

5.    Pest control: This always has to be an ongoing routine in any garden, but winter can be a time for a lot of pests to get comfortable on your plants. Look out for aphids, especially at the bottom of the leaves, and use an organic pesticide like a neem spray regularly until you see a reduction in the problem.

At Black & Decker, we offer you a range of gardening tools, from grass trimmers and cutters, to lawn movers. Check out more details on our website: http://www.india.stanleyblackanddecker.com