Garden Advice for Winter 2024
- Dec 7, 2024
- 3 min read
12/07/24
Ramsey County Master Gardener Volunteer Program
Winter in Cherokee Park, St. Paul
A Note from the Master Gardeners
We've put our gardens to bed for the year and are reflecting on the successes and challenges of the past growing season. The warm weather and plentiful rainfall early this year led to abundant harvests for many, but also presented challenges — including disease pressure for our apples and lilacs.
These winter months are a great time to plan for 2025, and we have plenty of ideas and resources to share below. We’re also exploring ways to support community gardens in Ramsey County — if you’re involved in a local community garden, we’d love to hear from you.
Plus, remember you can always you can always contact us to schedule a class or a garden tour of our demonstration gardens for your group, or get help with your plant questions, sign up for our upcoming classes when we'll be talking about seed starting, houseplants, and tree pruning, or visit the Extension website for helpful gardening information. And don’t forget to save the date for our spring plant sale on May 17, 2025!
— Your friendly neighborhood Master Gardener
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Winter Garden Activities
December
Protect plants from animal damage and cold damage
Order seed catalogs
Visit local winter farmers markets
January
Plot out seed-starting schedule, start long-season seeds
Check houseplants for signs of disease, stress
Take inventory of garden gear
February
Prune trees & shrubs — if you haven’t already, now is a good time to prune oaks to prevent oak wilt
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Winter Garden Information
Our trees are treasured possessions, adding wind protection, summer cooling, and beauty to our homes. Trees can even add 10% or more to our property values. With winter arriving, what can we do to maintain the health and safety of our trees?
This guide from Penn State Extension offers tips for supporting pollinators and other wildlife in the winter months.
The impacts of climate change will be different in different areas of Minnesota. Check out these regional climate summaries from the University of Minnesota Extension to get a sense of how our climate in Ramsey County has already changed, and what we can expect in the future.
We may not see as warm a winter this year as last, but climate projections suggest warm conditions will become increasingly common in Ramsey County in the future. Now is a great time to review how these shifting climate conditions affect plants. As you’re planning for the next growing season, remember that the USDA recently updated its plant hardiness zone map, and we are now in zone 5a.
Succulents, which thrive in hot and dry conditions, can make for great house plants. Check out these tips for growing succulents in containers, and avoid common pitfalls when growing these plants at home.
Learn more about ways to extend the growing season in the early spring so you can get started growing as soon as possible. In addition to the Extension resources online, we’re also offering classes on winter sowing through the winter.
This year, which started out overly wet and ended remarkably dry, presented a host of challenges for our lawns. These swings in extreme precipitation patterns are expected to become increasingly common in our changing climate, making thoughtful management of irrigation and lawn care more important. Sign up for Extension’s lawn care newsletter to get Minnesota-specific tips for managing the latest weather conditions.
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More Resources to Help You Grow
Ask a Master Gardener Online & Phone Services
Ramsey County Yard Waste & Food Scraps Drop-off Locations
