December Garden Checklist

These winter months are just starting but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to do in the garden. Here is my December garden checklist that I use to make sure I am taking good care of my garden and prepping it for spring.

December Checklist

• Make sure all tools, hoses, pots, and gardening supplies are cleaned and put away for the winter
• Winterize lawn mower – I hire this out with a local company. They sharpen the blade and drain out the gas, and at home I put my battery on a drip charger to keep it healthy
• Plant bulbs if your ground isn’t frozen yet. I just got a bunch of clearance bulbs at my hardware store and am in a hurry to get them in the ground before it freezes.
• Make leaf mulch with fallen leaves and put in raised beds.
• Mulch around trees and bushes with wood chips. Make sure to keep them away from the trunk however. That invites disease.
• Add extra steer manure or compost to garden beds. I don’t always get this step done until later in the season or early spring but I like keeping it an option for something to do outside.
• Plan garden beds and landscape changes for the next season. Now is about when seed catalogs start coming out. If you’ve never gotten one, do it! They’re so fun to look at and get inspiration from. Plus now you know how to read a plant tag so you can easily plan which seeds and plants would work well in your area. I’ll list a few options below.

Getting Inspiration

December is the perfect time to get inspiration for next years garden. I love going back and forth with my bullet notebook and drawing and redrawing my garden beds and making changes here and there. I like to think and write about what worked well and what didn’t in my beds. My notebook is also great for jotting down what plants struggled with disease or sun and water conditions so I can plan better for those next year. I like to use plant catalogs and Pinterest to research companion plants (plants that do well when planted next to each other) and use that to plan for my own beds next year.

Plant Catalogs

Here are a few of my favorite plant catalogs I love to read from. It’s especially fun to get all cozy by the fire or with a big blanket and dream about your garden for the next year.

• Burpee
• Johnnys Seeds
• Harris Seeds
• Gurney’s Seeds and Nursery Co
• Bluestone Perennials
• Rare Seeds (this catalog is not free)
• Brecks Bulbs
• New England Seed Company