Winter preparations for owners of garden sheds

09:10:20 27th October 2010

With winter approaching, owners of garden sheds should prepare their gardens for the cold months.

Perennials should be protected from the cold as soon as possible by being placed in a sheltered area, while freezing soil and roots can be prevented by wrapping containers, according to liveforgardening.com.

Meanwhile, any potted plants should be raised off the ground to prevent waterlogging - a frequent affliction of plants during the winter months - and checked after heavy rain to ensure they are not retaining too much water.

To keep the ground and plants healthy, leaves should be raked up frequently to prevent mould, rot and slugs from damaging the garden.

Recently, Jean Vernon of the Guardian stressed that healthy soil is the key to a successful garden. To improve it, owners of garden sheds can add mineral mixes and conditioning treatments, allowing the latter to be worked in by worms rather than by digging to prevent the soil structure being broken up.