By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

That chill in the air is a reminder winter weather is right around the corner.

It is time to start thinking about winterizing your gardens.

Pam Herl, Hays Herb Club leader, spoke recently to the Hays Public Library club about getting your garden ready for colder weather.

“It is difficult for us to think about winterizing our gardens right now, but we have a small window because Kansas has been known for severe snow storms in October,” Herl said. “We have a small window to get our gardens ready for next spring, and a small window in the spring for planting.”

You can save time in the spring by preparing beds now.

To prepare a new bed, you can rototill the area and add compost in the fall. To kill weeds, lay layers of old carpet or cardboard over the ground, and then cover with mulch. Herl said she has had friends who have laid down old braided cotton rugs as ground cover, and cut holes in the rugs to place plants in the spring.

Mulch is essential for existing beds as well. It will reduce weed growth and help keep in moisture. For winter mulch, use leaves or straw. Avoid using pine or evergreen needles because they are too acidic and can harm your plants.

Once your annuals stop blooming, it is time to pull them from the garden.

After the first hard freeze, you can cut your perennials and biannuals down to the ground.

However, Herl said she prefers to leave her perennials in place.

“As that snow blows in, I want something to hold that snow in place. I don’t want it blowing across my yard and ending up in my driveway where my husband has to scoop it off,” she said.

Snow serves as a mulch, as well. It insulates and provides moisture.

Shrubs and rose bushes can be pruned to about half after a hard freeze when the leaves have died back.

“Don’t prune (shrubs) in the fall,” she said. “You know Kansas. One day we will have snow, and the next day it will be 90 degrees. Once that it gets that warm, it breaks that plant out of its dormancy and it is going to get warm, tender growth. Young, tender growth will freeze, and you don’t want that to happen.”

Marjorie Mueller, Herb Club member, offered her tip for pruning roses. She uses tongs to grab onto to clipped rose stems, so she doesn’t scratch herself on the thorns.

A hard freeze is a period of at least four consecutive hours of air temperatures that are below 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Many plants can survive a brief frost, but very few can survive a hard freeze, according to the Farmer’s Almanac.

According to the National Weather Service, Hays’ average first hard freeze date is Oct. 10.

The NWS outlook has temperatures staying at 46 degrees or above through Monday.

Before a hard freeze is a good time to give shrubs and bushes a good soaking with water. This will help preserve them if the winter turns dry.

“We do not think about watering our shrubs and our trees in the winter time,” Herl said. “We had a very dry winter last winter. We had some very cold weather, and we had some winds. That dried these shrubs out. There were a lot of people complaining that they lost a lot of shrubs or they lost part of the shrub.”

Young trees should be have their trunks wrapped. Tree warp is available from most stores that carry garden supplies.

Mulching young trees will also help protect them during the winter. Place a round tomato cage around the tree after the hard freeze. Place plastic inside the wire and fill the area with dead leaves. This method can also be used on small shrubs or rose bushes. Shrubs and bushes can also be protected with burlap.

If you mulch in this manner before the hard freeze has killed back live growth, you can get rot.

Now is the time to plant bulbs for spring, such as tulips. However, you should dig up bulbs that are not winter hardy, such as dahlias, cannas and gladiolus. Store in a cool, dark place.

If you are going to bring a potted plant inside for the winter, replant it. Get a bigger pot and fill it with wet potting soil. Herl suggested using plastic pots, because they will be lighter and easier to move.

Herl said if you are concerned about bugs on the plant, you can cover the soil with plastic and rinse the leaves with a solution of Ivory dish soap in a quart of water.

Plants moving from outdoors to indoors need to be acclimated to the indoor climate. Herl suggested bringing the plant indoors for a couple of hours per day, gradually increasing the time indoors until you have the plant is indoors all day.

The same should be done in reverse in the spring.

“If we took you and stuck you out there, what would you do?” Herl said.

Tropicals and tender perennials can be brought in, but annuals will not do well.

If you still have herbs in your garden, they can be preserved in several ways. They can be frozen green and then stored in plastic bags in the freezer.

They can be dried. Remove the leaves from the stems. Lay flat over layers of paper towels and newspaper until the leaves are crisp. Then seal in colored containers or store in a dark place to avoid the herbs being broken down by the light.

Herbs can also be frozen in broth or water. Ice cub trays are great for this purpose.

There are also a variety of recipes available for making herb-infused oils or vinegars.

The HPL Herb Club meets at 5 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of the month in the Schmidt Gallery. See the HPL calendar for a list of topics and dates. The next study, “Herbs of Harry Potter,” on Tuesday , Oct. 16 will have activities geared toward children and Harry Potter fans of all ages. The event is free and open to the public.