Autumn is approaching and, as always, many hobby gardeners are faced with the question of how they can best protect their plants.
It works with these tips.
Kassel - The cold season is just around the corner.
For the garden and the balcony, this means that some preparations have to be made.
For example, if you want fresh vegetables almost all year round, you should create a raised bed, according to Doris Kampas, gardening expert and book author from Oberrohrbach, Austria.
In September, not only should hedges, bushes and fruit trees be cut back *, the right lawn care should also be taken into account.
"Parsnips are more aromatic, carrots are sweeter and cabbage sprouts are much more tender after the first frost," says the expert.
So if you sowed in July, you can still harvest the fresh vegetables in the garden and even on the balcony in autumn and winter.
The cold even elicits a more intense taste from some classics than the warm summer, says Kampas.
Prepare the garden and balcony for winter: Raised beds are also suitable when the temperature is below zero
Raised beds are particularly suitable in the cold season to protect the vegetables from freezing.
Although many types of vegetables are frost-hardy, they still need warmth and light to grow, explains the gardening expert.
“The sunnier the location on short days, the better,” says Kampas.
A raised bed is also less exposed to temperature fluctuations than a flower pot or a bed at ground level due to the layer structure and the heat of rotting.
Some plants can be grown in the raised bed, such as:
Brussels sprouts
Kale
broccoli
Kohlrabi
spinach
Asian salads (Pak Choi, Mizuna)
arugula
Turnips
Parsnips
Parsley, black and oat roots
radish
radish
celery
Carrots
Prepare the garden and balcony for winter: observe the sowing and planting times
The sowing and planting times can be very different for the different varieties.
Shallots and root parsley are sown as early as March.
But don't worry, it's not too late for a winter harvest this year.
The seeds of spinach and Asian salads can be sown until the end of September for a harvest in December.
However, if you don't have your own garden, you don't have to be sad.
The season can also be extended considerably on the balcony and terrace.
Window boxes, pots and buckets can simply go crazy in winter to use the radiant heat from walls.
In addition to Asian salads, rocket, spinach and lamb's lettuce, the expert also recommends Swiss chard, radishes, kohlrabi and beetroot for the mini garden on the balcony.
Kale can also be sown and harvested in the balcony box when it is hand-high.
Prepare the garden and balcony for winter: fleece and mulch protect against freezing
"The more soil a bucket holds, the better the roots are insulated against cold and frost," explains Kampas.
You shouldn't overdo it, however, because the balcony must be able to bear the total weight, especially if the containers are moved into a corner in winter.
A layer of mulch is recommended as additional protection against the cold for balcony boxes and in the raised bed.
If the temperatures then approach zero or have fallen below it, fleeces or a cold frame attachment are also used.
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But be careful: "The fleece and lid must be ventilated regularly so that the plants do not get a heat shock," explains Kampas.
Also not to be forgotten: sweep the snow off the hood so that the plants get light.
So summer is slowly coming to an end, but that does not prevent many hobby gardeners from taking care of weeds, home-grown vegetables and cutting hedges.
It is better to wait with the latter, however *.
(Luisa Weckesser)
* hna.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
