A Winter Garden Care Guide: Tricks and Tools for a Healthy Garden, Even in the Coldest Season

As winter approaches, it is a common mistake to neglect garden care and forget that every green space is a living ecosystem that requires constant attention: what should every garden owner keep in mind?

Fabio Banin – agronomist from STIGA –  Europe’s leading manufacturer and distributor of garden equipment shares his expert tips.

With the changing seasons and climatic challenges, the needs of any garden, no matter how large or small, vary considerably. Spring is the ideal time to sow new plants, prune shrubs, and begin watering regularly. During summer, on the other hand, the focus shifts to managing optimal irrigation to cope with the heat and ensuring protection from insect infestations.

Then, in autumn, it is time to clean up fallen leaves and prepare the ground for winter. However, when thinking about garden care during winter, many garden lovers tend to believe that a lawn cannot remain green and lush because of the cold, wet weather.

Indeed, it is a common mistake to pause garden care until the fine weather returns – forgetting that every garden is a living ecosystem, continually populated by microorganisms and animals, even when it seems to be asleep in winter. For this reason, it is crucial to dedicate constant attention to one’s green space to keep it healthy all year round.

A series of simple, yet high impact practices and appropriate equipment, such as STIGA’s A1500 Autonomous Robot Mower and SC 100e multifunction pruner, are essential for winter garden care. Fabio Banin, STIGA Expert and agronomist, shares guidelines and best practices for achieving a healthy winter garden, while respecting environmental sustainability.

“Dormancy”: what to do?
During winter, the lawn enters a state of rest called “dormancy”, characterised by the progressive slowing down of vegetative activity, until it ceases completely in anticipation of spring, when the plant will use its accumulated energy to overwinter.
In view of dormancy, certain precautions must be taken:

• Prior to the arrival of winter,cut the lawn at the usual height and no lower. STIGA’s A1500 Autonomous Robot Mower, featuring STIGA’s patented AGS (Active Guidance System) technology, is able to recognize the garden shape and plan cutting sessions intelligently, for a healthy, even, and lush lawn. Moreover, it works without perimeter wires, but with a GPS-based virtual perimeter, allowing the user to adjust the workspace and configure the layout of their garden at any time via the STIGA.GO app. Thanks to STIGA ePower technology, which guarantees unrivalled battery life, the A1500 is the most efficient solution on the market. At the end of the mowing session, it is important to remember not to leave the robot mower in the garden and to store it indoors after cleaning and regular maintenance.
• Avoid using thaw salt on driveways, as it easily penetrates the soil and remains there for years, preventing the growth of vegetation.
• Quit watering and fertilizing: the dormant lawn is not able to use either water or fertilizer, which would disperse into the soil.
• It is preferable to remove fallen leaves from the lawnwith a blower: a thick layer of leaves creates a moist chamber at ground level that encourages the development of mould and fungal pests. Lightweight and silent, the STIGA BL 100e and SAB 700 AE cordless blowers, are the ideal tools for keeping one’s garden clean and tidy and their ergonomic handle ensures optimal comfort.

Sustainable garden care even in winter
To promote the preservation of Nature, there are a few sustainable practices that it is important to keep in mind when caring for one’s garden – even in winter:

• Reuse the waste material from shrub pruning, transforming it with a shredder into wood chips to be used to cover the soil in flower beds or the vegetable garden during the winter months; besides being an excellent fertilizer, this limits the development of weeds and reduces the evaporation of water from the soil. User- and eco-friendly, the Bio Silent 2500electric shredders reduce garden debris in a tidy and sustainable way by collecting the wood chips in special containers.
• Avoid stepping on or cutting grass when it is frozen or covered with snow: when temperatures drop, plant cells adapt by expelling water into intracellular spaces, becoming more susceptible to damage; by stepping on the grass, we exert a mechanical force that damages the cells and compromises their survival.
• By using a mulching mower, or a robot lawn mower such as STIGA’s A1500 Autonomous Robot Mower, the accumulation of organic material in the soil increases over time, which nourishes microflora and micro-fauna in the soil.

Finally, if one wishes to decorate the garden with withered or dry branches, when they are covered in dew or frost, the SC 100e multifunction pruner is an ideal ally for pruning branches to create a tidy and harmonious appearance.

Featuring an ergonomic design and equipped with high-quality carbon steel blades, the STIGA SC 100e ensures efficient and precise cutting with minimum muscle effort and in complete safety, thanks to its non-slip grip, easy lock system and software standby mode. Moreover, it runs on the STIGA ePower 20V 2 Ah battery, which guarantees intelligent energy management and a runtime of up to over 2000 cuts on a single charge.