If the sleigh needs to be prepared in the summer, then the vegetable garden is better in the fall. Correct cultivation during this period includes soil preparation (digging and applying various substrates to improve its physical characteristics), fertilization, and for some crops, mulching and covering of winter plantings. Such actions will significantly increase next year's harvest. It is most correct to prepare the beds in the fall for various crops, taking into account the requirements of each of them.
How to prepare strawberry beds for winter
Strawberries, or garden strawberries, accumulate resources for future fruiting in the fall. Therefore, if you want to get a rich harvest of berries, as well as protect it from frost, familiarize yourself in advance with how to prepare strawberries for winter in the garden.
Autumn is the time to prepare the garden for the new season
Autumn care for strawberry plantations
The main activities for the care of strawberries are best carried out after the end of fruiting, at the end of July, in August or at the beginning of September. What to do during this period:
- carefully, so as not to damage the growth points of young leaves, cut off the old leaves and whiskers;
- remove weeds on the site;
- loosen the soil between the bushes, while hilling the plants a little (do not cover the growing point);
- apply fertilizers and, if necessary, treat with insecticides;
- water the plantings abundantly, but do not often, soaking the soil well.
Pruning old leaves
The root system of the plant is superficial, even with proper preparation of the strawberry bed, it is injured, therefore, the sooner you process the plantings, the more the bushes will get stronger and better endure the winter. In the fall, especially before frost, do not pull up weeds on the site, leave this activity until spring.
Top dressing of strawberry plantations
Do not forget to feed the strawberries after fruiting. Before the onset of winter, you need to do this twice:
- Immediately after harvest (late July - early September) - use nitroammophoska, scattering it around the bushes (consumption 25-30 g per 1 sq. M.), Or prepare an aqueous solution (2 tbsp. L. Per 10 l of water), pouring 0.5 l for each bush. You can also use organic fertilizers such as mullein. Dilute it with water 1: 3, stand for two days, add 1 glass of ash and add 0.5 liters for each plant.
- In late autumn (from the end of October), mulch the beds under strawberries with humus or rotted compost, consumption 3-5 kg \u200b\u200bper 1 sq. m. You can also add superphosphate.
Spread fertilizer around the bushes
When fertilizing the site, avoid getting fertilizers (especially dry mineral fertilizers) on the leaves and points of plant growth, this can cause burns and destroy the bushes.
The perfect shelter for the winter
Garden strawberries, in the presence of abundant snow cover, tolerate frosts well, but cold winters with little snow can destroy the plants. To avoid such an outcome, do not forget to insulate the strawberry beds in the fall after a stable minus temperature has been established. Previously, you should not do this, small frosts will be beneficial.
The list of materials that can be used for shelter is quite extensive, but each has its own advantages and disadvantages:
- Leaves, hay, straw are the most accessible materials, but they are caked, in the spring it is rather difficult to separate them from the plants, the bushes under them can grow out, and mice often hibernate in the straw, damaging the strawberry plantings.
- Pine needles, spruce branches are the best choice for shelter, it has good air permeability, which excludes damping out, but at the same time retains heat well.
- Agrofibre - protects crops well from freezing, but it must be pulled over pre-installed arcs (the so-called air-dry shelter) so that the material does not come into contact with the plants, otherwise they will freeze even more than in the open air.
Shelter strawberries for the winter with straw
In regions with little snowy winters, pay attention not only to the plants, but also the aisles, mulch them with leaves, straw, grass, and so on. This will help protect the superficial root system of the strawberry, because the soil will dry out less, freeze and crack.
Autumn preparation of the beds
Plots for annual garden crops are also prepared in the fall. During the winter, the soil subsides, is saturated with the introduced mineral and organic compounds, and by spring it is almost completely ready for new plantings.
Preparing a bed for onions
Preparing the beds for onions in the fall begins with choosing a place. Arrange them where cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, potatoes grew, these are the best predecessor plants. Avoid places where garlic, carrots and, of course, onions grew, it can be returned to its original place in 3-5 years. Observance of seeding changes not only optimizes plant nutrition, but also protects them from pests and pathogens.
Basic requirements for the landing site:
- sunny, open area;
- no weeds;
- non-acidic loamy or sandy loam soil;
- moderate soil moisture.
Fertilizers are evenly distributed over the site
If the area that was planned to be allocated for the bow does not correspond to the ideal, it does not matter, everything can be fixed. So, acidic soil, lime two years before planting onions. In addition to slaked lime, you can use wood ash, chalk, limestone and other substances. On waterlogged soils, build high beds.
Now about how to properly prepare a bed for onions. Autumn events in this matter are quite simple:
- remove weeds;
- apply fertilizers;
- dig the ground to the depth of the shovel.
Small seeding for autumn planting
How to fertilize the onion garden? Before digging, apply organic fertilizers, optimally 5 kg of compost or humus and 1 kg of wood ash per 1 sq. m. You can apply chicken manure at the rate of 200 g per sq. m. m. In addition, mineral fertilizers are applied in autumn. For example, 20 g of double superphosphate and 15 g of calcium chloride per 1 sq. m of territory.
The recommended width of the onion bed is 45–90 cm, and the length is mainly determined by the size of the plot. When determining the optimal parameters for sowing, keep in mind that the width between the furrows for planting onions should be about 20 cm, and the distance between the sets of about 8 cm. Do not forget to leave wide passages between the plantings, they will greatly facilitate the maintenance of crops.
Some gardeners practice the autumn planting of onions. To do this, select the smallest set, less than 1 cm in diameter. Plant it in early October, about 2-3 weeks before the onset of frost. Dig the bulbs into the ground by 3 cm, and mulch on top with leaves, straw, needles or spruce branches.
Preparing a bed for carrots
Do you want to know how to prepare a garden for carrots in the fall in order to get a good harvest next year? The main activities during this period are reduced to choosing a place, digging and fertilizing the soil. Proper preparation will allow you to grow beautiful roots and significantly increase yields.
Choose a place in the garden, taking into account the compatibility of the culture with the predecessor plants. It is better if the bed for carrots is broken in the place where potatoes, legumes, cabbage, and tomatoes previously grew. It is advisable that the carrots are not sown here for the previous 4-5 years. The following soil parameters are optimal for the root crop:
- high level of humus;
- pH (acidity coefficient) 5.6 - 7;
- light permeability (loose loam or sandy soils).
Carrots grown on unprepared soil
Note that in heavy or rocky soils, the roots will grow small and twisted. A similar effect is observed when fresh manure is applied before planting.
The ideal preparation of a bed for carrots should take into account the characteristics of the soil on the site:
- peat - 1 sq. m of land, add 5 kg of river sand, 3-5 kg \u200b\u200bof humus, 6 kg of sod land;
- clay and podzolic - per 1 sq. m - 1–2 buckets of peat and sand, 1 bucket of humus, 3–5 kg of sawdust (preferably not fresh);
- light loamy - the same as for clay soils, only without sand;
- black soil - per 1 sq. m - 0.5 buckets of small stale sawdust and 1 bucket of sand.
Preparing high ridges for carrots
In addition, add superphosphate from mineral fertilizers at the rate of 20 g per 1 sq. m (some replace it with wood ash), as well as potash salt - 10-15 g per 1 sq. m. After adding all the substances, dig up the area 1–2 bayonets of the shovel deep and level the surface.
The size of the carrot beds largely depends on the size of the plot, but experts do not recommend making them too wide. Narrow beds with a width of 45–90 cm and wide row spacing provide the plants with maximum illumination. Keep in mind that plantings should be placed at a distance of 25 cm between rows. The depth of the carrot bed must be at least 30 cm.
Preparing the garden for garlic
A garden bed for garlic in the fall is prepared both for planting winter varieties in the open field before the onset of frost, and for planting spring varieties in spring. Site preparation usually begins in early September, and the basics of agricultural technology are the same for all plant species. Answering the question: how to make a garden for garlic correctly, there are several important stages:
- selection of a location taking into account seeding and soil characteristics;
- weed removal and soil digging to a depth of 25–30 cm;
- fertilization.
Winter garlic, prepared for planting
Place a bed for winter garlic where pumpkin seeds, legumes, and early cabbage grew. It can be returned to its original planting site no earlier than three years later, but if you still have to plant plants there again, pay attention to how to process the garden bed after garlic in order to prevent diseases. To do this, pour the soil with a solution of 1 tbsp. l. copper sulfate per 10 liters of water, the consumption is approximately 1 bucket per 2 sq. m. After watering, cover the ground with foil.
Garlic prefers light, dry areas with light sandy loam soil. Other soils can be "improved" with simple additives:
- heavy clay soils - 1 bucket of peat and river sand per 1 sq. m;
- peat soils - 1 bucket of river sand and loamy soil per 1 sq. m of territory;
- sandy soils –2 buckets of clay soil and 1 bucket of peat per 1 sq. m plot.
Garlic plantings mulched with humus
A garlic bed in autumn needs fertilization:
- organic - compost or humus is most preferable (1 bucket per 1 sq. m), but in no case fresh manure, it significantly increases the incidence of planting and the susceptibility of plants to various microorganisms;
- mineral - 2 tbsp. l. potassium sulfate, 1 tbsp. l. double superphosphate, 1 tbsp. dolomite flour and you can, but not necessarily, 2 tbsp. wood ash per 1 sq. m.
Do I need to close the beds for the winter? It all depends on the climate and the characteristics of winters in a particular region. Garlic is quite frost-hardy, but severe winters with little snow can significantly thin out the plantings, even despite mulching with peat or humus. Therefore, after the onset of frost, it is better to cover the beds with needles, leaves, sawdust, tops.
Preparing the garden for cucumbers
Cucumbers are not very demanding plants on the composition of the soil, but still the best crops are harvested on sandy loam and loamy soils with neutral (or close to that) acidity. It is important that the site for this culture is not swampy. Nevertheless, proper processing will help to grow a vegetable in any territory, the main thing is to carry it out in advance.
The perfect cucumber patch
Not sure how to prepare a cucumber garden in the fall? Follow the tips:
- Determine a location, preferably taking into account the seeding schedule. Onions, legumes, cabbage, potatoes, and tomatoes are considered good predecessors of cucumbers. Do not plant them where other pumpkin seeds have previously grown.
- Prepare a trench or set up bumpers for a tall bed. Lay branches, straw, sawdust, leaves at the bottom.
- Apply fertilizers: mineral fertilizers are added during spring processing, and fresh manure is added to the beds in autumn so that it “settles” a little over the winter. Although, the opinions of experts on when to put manure on the beds are divided. Some advise to do this only in the fall, while others argue that it is possible in the spring, adding to it 100 g of nitrophoska and 3 glasses of wood ash for each square meter of land.
- Pour water over the manure and cover with fertile soil about 30 - 40 cm.
Cucumbers love manure fertilization
The use of this technology will accelerate the germination of plants, the appearance of fruits and significantly increase the yield of vegetables. However, if there is no way to create them, use another technology:
- Dig up the beds in the fall and sow with rye.
- In the spring, two weeks before planting cucumbers, distribute humus over the territory (3 buckets per 1 sq. M).
- Add soil baking powder (stale sawdust, sand, etc.) if necessary.
- Dig up the ground, embedding green manure and fertilizers in the ground.
Working in the garden requires a lot of time and effort, but it pleases with high-quality environmentally friendly products. Proper preparation of the site in the fall, taking into account the individual needs of crops, significantly increases their yield, and helps perennials to survive the winter without losses.
Autumn is just approaching and the harvest is not yet fully harvested. There is still a little time left and the beds will remain completely empty. So it's time to prepare the site for the upcoming season. This is done in order to prepare the soil, supply it with the necessary elements for better growing crops next year and, accordingly, so that the harvest is rich and healthy. But what kind of procedures and activities need to be carried out, we will tell you in this article.
Preparing the beds in the fallThe soil loses its unique properties every year, allowing it to grow strong vegetation and harvest at the end of the season. Therefore, she needs our help. Regular application of fertilizers with substances such as potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus helps to make up for the lack of these elements. We do not see this deficit, but we will be able to understand what it is, only by the state of the plants.
Autumn is the optimal period to enrich the depleted soil with various dressings and fertilizers, which will be absorbed and assimilated during the cold period. And when you start planting and sowing garden crops in the spring, they will be able to get good nutrition, since during the winter the fertilizers were processed by the soil into the form necessary for vegetation.
For organic matter to take the form necessary for perception by vegetation, it takes some time. That is precisely why, in order not to wait for spring and when everything is processed and it is necessary to bring the nutrient medium into the ground in autumn. For a long cold period, the elements will decompose into components and will be ready to feed the crops and seedlings for planting.
But fertilizers cannot be applied thoughtlessly. It is necessary to take into account a number of nuances, namely the condition of the soil, the quality of the soil. And also plan future plantings in advance, because the same complementary food is not suitable for all plants, so take note of this and start from all of the above in order to choose the right nutrient medium.
Fertilizers cannot be applied thoughtlessly Now let's go directly to the consideration of the proposed topic in more detail, consider each nuance.
Why prepare the soil in advance?
This question is often asked by gardeners, because there is spring and then, before planting vegetables, you can prepare the land. But this is not quite the correct line of thinking. Because, as we said, fertilizer takes time for crops to be able to consume it for their growth. And in the spring, there is already a lot of trouble: prepare seeds, grow seedlings, prepare holes for planting and plan the days of planting seedlings in the ground. Agree, this is a very time-consuming process, and you just might not have time to do everything.
Preparing the soil in advance This is why the autumn preparatory work is very important. Having spent a little more effort in the outgoing year, you will be able to pay more attention directly to planting work, because the site will be completely ready to grow a new crop. So do not be lazy, and you can slowly plan your actions with the arrival of spring.
How to properly prioritize preparation
Preparation should begin with clearing the area from the remnants of tops, weeds and other vegetation. If they are healthy, then put them in a compost pit for drying out, then you can use this to improve the quality of the soil. If necessary, chalk or slaked lime can be added to such fertilizers to normalize the acidity of the soil. If they show signs of disease, it is better to burn them outside the territory.
Preparation should begin with clearing the area from the remains of tops Pay special attention to weeds. They need to be removed with special care: root systems, creeping stems. The garden should be completely rid of them so as not to waste time on this in the spring, when they grow faster than vegetables on the lure soil.
Now that you have cleared the entire area of \u200b\u200bweeds and their debris. It is necessary to start enriching the soil with nitrogen fertilizers, potash and phosphorus - they are suitable for all plants. Since nothing will grow on the beds, urea can also be added in winter, it is not difficult to calculate: 20-25 g per 1 m 2; superphosphate complementary foods in a ratio of 18-20 g per 1 m 2; potassium chloride in a proportion of 15-20 g per 1 m 2. Do not be afraid to add chlorine, by the time of spring it will no longer be in the soil. In addition, it is good to put a layer of manure, already rotted, in a proportion of 5-6 kg per 1 m 2 or deciduous humus of 3-4 kg per 1 m 2. Also, furnace ash, wood ash or soot will be useful in a ratio of 250-300 g per 1 m 2.
To lighten heavy soil or clay in your garden, add 1 bucket of river sand for each square meter, after mixing it with compost. This will make the soil looser and its fertile qualities will hang.
And vice versa, if you have sandy soil in which neither water nor nutrients are retained, you need to mix it with clay, also in a bucket per square meter, add compost in an amount of 5-6 kg per 1 m 2, humus from leaves 3-4 kg per 1 m 2, as well as sawdust 1 bucket per 1 m 2. Be careful with sawdust, as they can oxidize the soil, so make sure that when laying them, they are soaked in water and a little misty.
Be careful with sawdust, as they can oxidize the soil Land with an acidity index below 6 units must be enriched with chalk or hydrated lime. When the acid-base balance is less than 4.5, it is necessary to use limestone in an amount of 200-250 g per 1 m 2. With indicators in the range of 4.6-5.5, add chalk in a ratio of 250-300 g per 1 m 2.
All the substances described are introduced in the fall at the time of digging the garden. First, you distribute it over the top layer of turf, then dig up the soil onto a full bayonet of a shovel, mixing all the necessary ingredients with the ground.
You need to dig up the beds correctly
There are two main ways to dig up garden beds: moldboard and moldboard.
You need to dig up the beds correctly Let us first consider the dump-free method, it consists in the fact that the earth layer does not break and turn over. Thus, there is a complete preservation of the beneficial microflora of the soil of the lower and upper layers. The formed clods of soil should also not be broken.
The dumping method is completely opposite in action: the clods must be turned over and crushed. This method is most often used in autumn soil preparation. This is the only way we can place fertilizers in the soil, while distributing them evenly. But harmful insects and dangerous microbes who decide to spend the winter in the ground will literally be dragged out. It is not recommended to break up lumps of soil that are on the surface itself, because deep freezing will occur. But if you intend to prepare completely and clearly delineate the beds, chop up all the lumps. Then it is necessary to level the soil over the entire surface, this can be achieved by layering the soil during digging, making them higher than the rest of the soil by a few centimeters. Thus, the sun's rays in the spring will warm such beds faster than other land on the territory.
We prepare the beds for each vegetable separately
We examined the general features of how to prepare for planting plants in the winter: feeding, chalking, dumping, layering soil on plots with an increase in their level. But these are only general recommendations. But our task is not so much to find out the basic recommendations, it is to competently cultivate the site for each individual type of vegetable crops. And all this is also carried out after the harvest, namely in the autumn period.
Beet planting beds
For sowing a vegetable, you need to choose a well-lit place, with drained and light soil. Then you can safely expect a good root crop. Optimally, plots should be prepared on rocks or loam, with a neutral acid-base balance. Other types of soil are poorly suited to growing this crop, even with normal nutrients. Do not plant in places infused with water. And it is worth abandoning planting in the soil of high acidity.
Beet planting beds It is better to plant a vegetable in a vacant place from cucumbers, zucchini, early varieties of potatoes. And also good predecessors are varieties of early sweet peppers, eggplants and tomatoes. And it is categorically impossible to sow table beets in place of spinach, carrots, rapeseed, Cabbage and Swiss chard.
Be sure to lay a layer of compost during the autumn preparatory work or deciduous humus at the rate of ½ bucket per 1 m 2 of one plot. As a fertilizer with minerals, potassium chloride in a ratio of 12-14 g per 1 m 2 and ammonium nitrate with superphosphate in a ratio of 22-25 g per 1 m 2 will be good.
Please note that in no case should fresh manure be introduced into the soil during preparation, as you risk growing a crop with a high nitrate content in the coming year.
Prepares a plot for squash and pumpkin
These vegetables are not picky at all and treat well almost all fertilizers that we apply to the soil. They will also like almost completely rotted manure, at the rate of 3-4 kg per square meter of plot, but not more. It is laid for digging.
Prepares a plot for squash and pumpkin The soil must have a neutral acid-base balance. If your kidney has a high acid content, do chalking or add limestone.
It is optimal to plant cultivated plants in places from under potatoes, cabbage, onions, root crops in general and after legumes. But do not populate the area left over from cucumbers, squash and zucchini.
Pay attention to the type of soil, with a high clay content, you need to add ½ bucket of humus and 1 bucket of river sand per 1 square meter and dig everything up well. The same measures are necessary for general preparation in the autumn for pumpkins and zucchini. Fertilizers with a mineral base are also necessary: \u200b\u200bsuperphosphate 10-15 g, ash 250 g and potassium phosphate 15 g - this will be enough.
Sandy lands can also be equipped for growing squash and pumpkins, for this add a bucket of clay and ½ a bucket of deciduous humus per 1 m 2 of the garden.
Preparing a place for planting herbs
Dill and other greens, too, cannot be planted anywhere in order to get a good harvest. They will grow successfully in a place free of cabbage, tomatoes and onions. But don't plant herbs in the carrot, parsnip, and celery area.
Place for planting herbs Good illumination of the sowing area is also important, it will also be well warmed up. In autumn, cover the place planned for greenery with coniferous branches so that the snow lies there longer, so the land will be more fertile. Check the PH balance of the area. After all, vitamin bushes grow poorly on high acidity. Add lime or chalk to normalize acidity levels.
These plants do not require any special preparation. Dig the garden bed no deeper than 23 cm, be sure to add 2-3 kg of rotted manure per 1 m 2, 25-20 g of ammonium nitrate, 8-10 g of potassium sulfate, 10-12 g of superphosphate for the same 1 m 2. With the arrival of spring, you just need to loosen the soil well and organize the holes for sowing. It is also necessary to thoroughly shed the plots with water at the rate of 2-3 liters per 1 m 2 and tamp the soil a little so that the seeds do not "drown". The sowing holes should be 2 cm deep.
Preparing the ground for tomatoes
Tomatoes should be planted in the ground instead of table beets, cucumbers, onions, legumes, carrots, lettuce, greens, corn and courgettes. Late-ripening cabbage, potatoes, eggplant and bell peppers are considered bad predecessors.
Preparing the ground for tomatoes After the chosen place, you should proceed to the selection of the type of soil. The soil must be fertile. Excessively acidic soil should be fed with lime in a proportion of 150-200 g per 1 m 2, but this will not work with any acidity. If the soil consists of sandstone or loam, then you will need to add 250 g of limestone per 1 m 2 for digging, with medium or heavy loam, you will need to add 350 g, also under a shovel.
Take your time with fertilizing the site. Prepare superphosphates, tomatoes like it, and simply distribute it throughout the garden without digging over the top layer.
Since tomato bushes are tall, you should not make a bed for them with an increase in the level. Limit yourself to 23 cm wide and 100 cm long, you don't need to do more in volume.
Plots for planting cucumbers
And of course, we select a plot for this vegetable crop. There are few places where you can find a vegetable garden where cucumbers do not grow. It is better to plant them after tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, legumes, spinach, onions, early varieties of cabbage, as well as cauliflower, carrots and greens. And you should beware of the place after cucumbers, melons, watermelons, pumpkins and squash.
Plots for planting cucumbers Try to prepare the soil and make it light in the fall. For cucumber seedlings, loamy or sandy loam soil is most suitable. Clayy and heavy soils require the addition of sand: 1 bucket per 1 m 2 for a shovel. The soil can be slightly acidic, cucumbers feel calm there, so if only such a piece of land remains, do not worry.
And please note that it is also necessary to add 5-6 kg of dumped manure, and then dig up on a full shovel.
We lay complementary foods for warm beds
Also, autumn is very suitable for the construction of insulated beds. To do this, you need boards to mount a box or box, as a rule, they are made 1 m * 2 m.In the bottom layer we lay large branches, bark, thick stems of plants, for example, corn, it can also be cuts of logs and pieces of hemp or boards. Then a layer of sand, sawdust, chains, peelings of vegetables and plant debris is poured, even a layer of fallen leaves, humus and spread the ash. When laying these layers, take into account the fact that soil, mixed with compost, up to 30 cm in height, must still fit on top, in which the plants will be planted.
Complementary food for warm beds Do I need mulching
If you have a question about the need to mulch the beds that you prepared so diligently, then yes, of course this event needs to be held. Created on the basis of pure organic substances, it cannot in any way harm or affect the active vital activity of all beneficial bacteria in the plots you have created. In early spring, you just need to remove the used mulch from the surface. Now the site is ready to receive new plants, and the fertile land will help grow them.
The volume and sequence of autumn work in the garden depends on many factors: from the size of the plot to the mood of the gardener. Nevertheless, it is necessary to clearly know the obligatory list of works on preparing the beds in the fall for winter, otherwise the next year may not please with a rich harvest.
Certain plant species are especially demanding on the quality of the soil and its composition. For their growth and fruiting, it is necessary to prepare the site in advance.
Raspberries quickly deplete the soil, remaining in one place for many years. Before planting young plants in the soil, it is necessary to fertilize it. To do this, organic fertilizers are introduced into the soil, mixing them with ash and compost. In autumn, the soil is dug up, removing the roots of the weeds, then a layer of fertilizers is spread over its surface and the area is dug again.
To get a good harvest of potatoes, it is necessary to loosen the soil as much as possible. This can be achieved not only by introducing sawdust, compost and sand, but also by deep digging of the site.
When preparing the soil for growing cucumbers, you must first disinfect the ground with copper sulfate. A week after the treatment, compost is introduced into the soil and embedded at a shallow depth.
Autumn fertilizers for the garden and vegetable garden
Fertilizers that are used in the garden and vegetable garden in the fall contain a minimum amount of nitrogen. Agronomists advise paying attention to the packaging with the preparation: the manufacturer indicates the seasonality of use on it. Autumn fertilizers contain potassium, phosphorus and calcium. It is unacceptable to exceed the dosage of the introduction of drugs.
A popular fall fertilizer is superphosphate. It degrades slowly and is suitable for use in rainy autumn weather. The drug is applied at 40-50 g per 1 sq. M.
The classic autumn fertilizer is potassium chloride. Its dosage is small and amounts to 10-20 g of the drug per 1 sq. M. Work with potassium chloride in a respirator.
You can fertilize the soil with organic compounds. It is recommended to add rotted manure or compost once every 3-4 years. This will require 3-4 kg of organic matter per 1 square meter of beds. If poultry manure is used as fertilizer, the amount of the applied composition is reduced due to its high concentration. It is enough to take 2 kg of manure per 1 square meter of land.
For the garden bed on which the cabbage will grow, ash will be the best fertilizer. It is also suitable for potatoes, carrots, beets and other vegetable crops. Wood ash is rich in minerals and reduces soil acidity. With annual top dressing of the soil with ash, it is enough to use 1 glass of fertilizer per 1 square meter of beds.
What is planted in the fall before winter in the garden?
The traditional culture for autumn planting is onion sets. It is recommended to plant it before the onset of the first severe frosts, so that the plants have time to take root. The seed is chosen small, no more than 1 cm in diameter. The depth of planting onions before winter is minimal - about 1 cm.
In the first half of October, garlic is planted before winter. Unlike onions, garlic cloves are buried 5-10 cm in the ground so that the plant does not freeze. After planting, the garden bed is mulched with fallen leaves, needles or covered with spruce branches.
Spicy plants get along well in the same garden bed and are suitable for autumn planting. Dill, coriander and parsley can be planted after the first night frost. A bed with sown furrows is covered with slightly frozen soil and mulched.
For an autumn planting, you can use a salad. So that its greens appear on the table as early as possible, seeds are sown in a greenhouse. In this case, they do not need special covering material or mulching.
In regions with cold and long winters, beets are planted before winter. Cold-resistant varieties are suitable for such a planting. Winter stratification ensures early spring shoots. If not all the seeds have wintered, the beets can be planted in the spring.
How to treat a vegetable garden in the fall from pests and diseases?
The first stage of pest control is cleaning the garden and vegetable garden from organic residues. Pests and bacteria can multiply in rotting fruits and diseased foliage, so healthy volunteers and leaves are used for composting, and sick and rotten ones are destroyed.
You can spray trees in the garden with special preparations. The vitriol solution helps fight pests and rot. Bordeaux liquid destroys pathogens of powdery mildew and scab on apple or pear trees. Fruit-bearing shrubs are treated with a solution of soap and soda ash to avoid damage by powdery mildew. Spraying with a solution of urea prevents damage to trees by leaf rollers, aphids, flower beetles.
Preparing the soil in the open field
Proper soil preparation allows it to rest in winter, get rid of pests and prepare for spring planting. The garden must be dug up in the fall, improve the structure of the soil, prepare the soil in greenhouses and greenhouses.
Improving soil structure
The minimum required amount of work in preparing the beds in the fall for winter is the introduction of organic and complex mineral fertilizers enriched with phosphorus and potassium into the soil. If a plot of land is not used for planting garden crops every year, you can feed the soil every few years. For intensively sown beds, annual feeding is required.
Sand, compost, or leaf humus with a small amount of wood ash is applied to areas with heavy clay soil. This allows you to make the soil looser, improve its saturation with air and moisture. Sawdust mixed with humus or compost will be a good additive for sandy soils. These components retain moisture in the soil. If the soil in the area is acidic, it can be neutralized by adding lime, chalk or dolomite flour to the soil.
Digging the soil in autumn
You can dig up a garden and a vegetable garden in the fall in 2 ways:
- Moldless - when an earthen lump raised by a shovel does not need to be turned over and broken. This method of cultivating the land allows you to preserve its natural microflora.
- The second method is a dump, when the raised clod of earth must be turned over and its top layer must be embedded in the ground on a shovel bayonet. In this case, the weed seeds will be deep in the ground and will not be able to germinate to the surface. The larvae of pests, on the contrary, will find themselves directly on the surface of the earth and freeze.
You can dig up the ground with a bayonet shovel or a pitchfork. The recommended machining depth is on a shovel bayonet. Beds that are prepared for early crops are best dug to a shallower depth. In this case, they will dry out faster in the spring.
With any method of autumn cultivation of the land, agronomists do not recommend breaking the land, otherwise the soil will freeze. By spring, large lumps will become saturated with moisture and become crumbly.
Soil cultivation in the greenhouse
The best option for autumn soil preparation in a greenhouse or greenhouse is a complete replacement of the fertile soil layer. For this, a layer of soil about 10 cm thick is removed and replaced with fresh turf. Larvae of pests live in the upper layer of the earth, pathogenic microorganisms and spores of various fungi remain here, therefore such an operation heals the microclimate of the greenhouse.
It must be remembered that simple garden soil is not suitable for a greenhouse. Pests dangerous to plants also live in it. You can prepare the soil yourself by mixing humus, sand and sawdust. It is evenly laid out on the beds in the greenhouse and is additionally processed with copper sulfate or potassium permanganate. After cultivation, the soil is mulched and the closed greenhouse awaits the start of a new gardening season.
The soil that is removed from the greenhouse should not go into the garden, since it is rich in pathogenic microflora. For its disinfection, a separate area should be allocated and the soil should be treated with lime. The next summer, he is carefully dug up and after a season he returns to the greenhouse or to the garden beds.
Mulching
Mulching the soil provides plants with the best wintering conditions. Covered ground retains more moisture and heat while still breathing. These works are performed in late October or early November, when the autumn garden is already ready to meet winter.
Various materials are used for mulching the soil:
- fallen leaves, which rot during the winter and enrich the soil with minerals;
- needles, which prevents the soil from freezing and retains enough moisture in it;
- bark and wood chips;
- stems of garden plants;
- partially rotted sawdust;
- hay.
You can mulch both adult plants (fruit shrubs, flowers, perennial shoots), and beds with vegetable crops planted before winter. The mulch is spread on the soil in an even layer and left until spring. In this case, additional use of covering materials is not required.
Sowing siderates
Green manure is an effective organic fertilizer and good garden maintenance in the fall. Most often, they are planted on the beds in the fall, when the crop is harvested. Siderata not only enrich the soil with useful microelements, but also protect it from weeds. For this, plants are used that have a powerful root system and quickly gain green mass.
Plants from the legume family are often planted as siderates: lentils, lupines, alfalfa. It can also be winter rye or wheat, mustard, amaranth, buckwheat, etc. Plants planted as green manure not only increase soil fertility and make it loose, but also protect the soil from scab, various rot and insects living in the soil.
After mowing, the plants can be used as mulching material.
Winter green manures allow you to retain snow on the beds, which provides the soil with the necessary moisture.
When planting siderates in an autumn garden, it is necessary to remember the main principle of crop selection: the same garden bed cannot be used several times to grow plants belonging to the same family. This means that rapeseed, which belongs to the cruciferous family, cannot be planted in the garden after or before cabbage.
When the green manure grows up to 20-25 cm, they are mown. This must be done before the seeds appear, otherwise useful plants will become uncontrollably growing weeds next season. Green stems are embedded in the soil. During decomposition, they, like the roots remaining in the ground, will enrich the soil with useful substances.
Siderata, planted in the garden before winter and mowed in spring, can be left in the beds for several weeks. Such soil mulching will accelerate the decomposition of the root system remaining in the soil.
Composting
In autumn, a lot of foliage remains in the garden, and ripe leaf compost is the best way to saturate the soil with humic compounds and essential microelements. It restores the fertility of the mail and improves its structure.
Compost made from fallen leaves is suitable for all types of soil. It makes sandy soil more water-absorbing, clay soil adds breathability. Partially decayed foliage can be used for mulching shrubs, perennial flowers or plants planted for winter: garlic, onions, herbs.
To get fresh compost every season, agronomists recommend preparing 3 compost boxes on the site. The first is used to lay a new batch of leaves, grass and plant residues. In the second compost, last year's mixture of leaves, grass and soil ripens. In the third container, a portion of fully matured compost is formed, with which you can fertilize the beds and feed the garden plants during the season.
Arrangement of warm and high beds
The decomposition of organic matter, which is used in the construction of warm and high beds, provides plants with nutrients and warmth. Since the process of decomposition of plant residues lasts several years, all this time from the garden you can get a rich harvest of early vegetables: cucumbers, zucchini, etc. After the lower layers are rotted, the soil can be transferred to the garden, and new layers can be poured into the garden.
Preparing the beds in the fall for winter is a good time to build a warm bed, since a lot of organic matter remains in the garden. The type of beds is chosen based on the depth of the groundwater. If they are low, the structure of the warm bed is buried in the soil. When the groundwater level in the area is high, they equip a high bed. In both cases, the structure requires a fence. It can be made from boards, slate, plastic.
Large organic matter is laid at the bottom of the future warm bed: uprooted stumps, trimming boards, sawn branches. The larger these components are, the longer the life of the bed will be.
The next layer is fine organic matter. For these purposes, the tops of vegetable plants, branches of shrubs, fallen leaves, mown grass, straw, paper, etc. are suitable.
A layer of unripe compost or manure is spread over the fine organic matter. It will stimulate the decomposition of the lower organic layers.
The top layer is a layer of sod cut and turned upside down by the roots together with grass. On top of it, ready-made compost is laid out.
Each layer of a warm bed is spilled with water. Moisture accelerates the process of decomposition of organic matter and increases the temperature inside a warm bed. To accelerate decomposition, a warm bed can be watered with a biologically active agent, but the regular use of such agents will reduce its service life.
Fruit tree trunks protection
One of the stages of gardening in the fall is the autumn whitewashing of the trunks. It is held in October. Covered with white lime, tree trunks will be protected from exposure to sunlight, which in frosty weather provokes cracking of the bark. To impart bactericidal properties to the lime solution, special preparations are added to it, for example, Farmayod. When sulfur is added to lime, the whitewash composition provides trees with protection from hares, which feed on the bark of garden plants in winter.
Another effective way to protect the garden from members of the rodent family is to tie the trunks with spruce branches. It allows the bark of the tree to breathe, but it repels the animals. You can tie stems of wormwood to the trunks. Its smell scares off both hares and mice.
Autumn pruning
Autumn pruning of fruit trees involves 2 methods: shortening and thinning. These activities not only help the garden to grow and bear fruit, but also protect trees from branches broken under the weight of snow. Pruning a garden in the fall also has a sanitary focus. Dead or diseased branches must be removed to maintain the health of the entire tree or shrub.
Thinning the crown will provide the plant with good ventilation and the ability to get enough ultraviolet radiation. Young trees are thinned out every year until their crown is fully formed. To do this, only a few main branches are left on the trunk, cutting off all young growth. After thinning, the seedlings are watered and fed with mineral fertilizers, so that the plant quickly recovers from stress. The crown of mature trees is thinned out no more than once every 2 years. When pruning, remove all improperly growing shoots.
They resort to shortening the branches so that the crown of the trees has the correct shape and grows in the right direction. The branches are shortened to a bud, which will allow the shoot to grow in the right direction. Agronomists recommend shaping the crown of trees so that their branches are parallel to the ground. This makes it easier to harvest and take care of the plant.
All sick and lichen-covered branches are subject to removal at the end of September or October. It is worth pruning them in the autumn, since diseased shoots are sensitive to cold. This can affect the health of the entire tree. After trimming, sections with a diameter exceeding 10 mm are treated with garden varnish.
Autumn pruning is carried out only in temperate regions. It is not recommended to carry out it in the cold zone: trees do not have time to recover before the onset of winter, and the bark on the cuts freezes. In the future, this leads to the drying out and death of the entire tree.
Cleaning tools and equipment
When the preparation of the beds for winter is completed and there is no work left in the garden, it is necessary to drain the water from the barrels, and turn the containers themselves upside down. All garden tools, from shovels to buckets and pruners, require thorough cleaning and washing. In the fall, you can sharpen the working tool: bayonet shovels, flat cutters, scissors, etc. Then in the spring, at the height of the garden season, you will not need to spend time on preparatory work.
After cleaning and revision, a list of necessary purchases should be made: garden tools, seeds, fertilizers, biological products. Buying the little things and tools necessary for the garden in stages, you can save money and prepare in advance for the new summer cottage season.
After harvesting, garden beds must be properly prepared for the spring sowing season, the best time for this is autumn. In addition to preparing the beds, it is necessary to remove and burn the vegetable tops left after harvesting, to carry out a set of necessary measures for arranging warm beds. This article contains all the necessary measures to prepare the garden for winter. Competent preparation of the garden for the winter is a guarantee of a rich harvest.
In the fall, it is necessary to collect plant residues from the garden plot.
To ensure the harvest of vegetables next year, preparing the beds in the fall is a necessary and important event. Work in the garden should begin with harvesting tops and weeds from the beds. Old grass is a favorite wintering place for garden pests and rodents, so preparing the beds for winter begins with their thorough cleaning.
Vegetable tops, plant debris and weeds can be destroyed in two ways:
- Burn - when plant residues are burned, pathogens and pests are destroyed. Ash can be used to fertilize garden beds and trees.
- Preparing compost - this method of utilizing weeds is longer than burning, but the resulting nutritious substrate will help to inexpensively and qualitatively increase the fertility of garden beds.
How to prepare compost correctly
Winter compost should be prepared somewhat differently than summer compost. Plant residues that have not been removed from the summer cottage are suitable for composting, including not only vegetable tops, but also branches of trees and shrubs, weeds, household waste, animal manure, bird droppings.
It is very important that the compost heap does not freeze in winter, is not washed out by atmospheric precipitation and is not exposed to the wind, so it must be done according to all the rules.
It is very important to ensure the decomposition of the ingredients in the winter, for which it is necessary to prepare a rectangular shallow hole in the ground, at the bottom of which the cut branches of bushes and trees are laid. Then weeds and waste are piled in layers, sandwiching them with manure and bird droppings.
It is useful to add double superphosphate, potash fertilizers, ash, lime or dolomite flour to the compost heap. For better air exchange, the side and end walls are laid with narrow poles. The height of the compost heap should not exceed 1.2 meters from the bottom of the trench, while deepening into the ground is taken as 0.5 - 0.8 m. The heap is spilled with infusion of weeds, diluted with slurry. The soil is laid on top with a layer of 30 cm, the dock sides are covered with a thinner layer of soil and sheltered from the rain.
The composted components rot by the beginning of summer, allowing you to get a nutritional supplement to the soil that doubles the fertility, and also to get rid of garbage and weeds along the way.
Preparing the beds
Tool for digging and loosening beds.
Preparing the garden for wintering includes digging the beds, which can be done in the classical way by radically digging the beds. In this case, large clods do not break, leaving them until spring. With such an autumn digging, moisture is well preserved in large lumps of garden soil, therefore, when leveling the soil in spring, the percentage of moisture remains high.
The second option for processing a vegetable garden in the fall consists in surface loosening of the soil to a depth of no more than 5 cm, for which a Fokin plane cutter is used. It is useful to mulch the loosened soil with sawdust and ash, sometimes it is practiced to sow siderat grasses, the seedlings of which are buried in the ground when digging in the spring.
Preparing the soil for winter presupposes the creation of a balanced ecological system in the garden, as close as possible to natural conditions, using mulch and sowing green manure.
Siderata for winter sowing
The roots of siderata penetrate deeply into the soil, loosening it.
A reliable way to restore soil fertility is sowing green manure, which does not require large costs for planting. Siderata are one or more annual crops (mixture) that quickly build up green mass and develop a powerful root system. The root system of grasses penetrates into the deep layers of the soil, loosening and enriching its composition. The ground part of the plants serves for snow retention, is used as mulch when mowing, and is embedded in the ground (green fertilizer).
Siderates are used based on the purpose and the desired end result:
- Loosening the soil - ideally loosen the heavy soil in the garden beds rye, mustard, oats, rapeseed.
- Disinfection of soil from pathogenic diseases of vegetable crops - winter sowing of a mixture of crops is used, which includes rapeseed, mustard, marigolds, calendula and oats.
- Improving soil fertility - a mixture of vetch with oats or rye, mustard with legumes, alfalfa, sweet clover.
- Mulching - phacelia, vetch, alfalfa.
Sowing of green manure grasses can be performed randomly or in rows in prepared beds after the autumn harvest of vegetable crops. A properly prepared vegetable garden can provide a high harvest next year.
Sowing vegetables before winter
For early ripening of some vegetable crops, their seeds can be sown in the beds in the fall. The harvest of winter vegetables is characterized by early ripening and high vitamin value.
In autumn, many garden crops can be sown, good yields can be obtained when growing carrots, beets, radishes, lettuce, dill, root parsley, celery, spinach.
Beds for podzimny planting of vegetables are chosen in a dry open area, where it is excluded that the beds are soaked with ground and melt water. It is useful to protect crops from the directed north wind, as well as to mulch the beds with compost or peat. The seeds will be able to successfully overwinter under a reliable shelter, and give the first shoots in early spring.
It should be remembered that seed consumption when sowing vegetables in winter can double.
Regardless of what you are going to grow - vegetables, flowers or shrubs and trees, the first step is to prepare the soil. In well-loosened soil, the roots can develop optimally, rainwater and water from irrigation can easily seep into such soil, and exactly where it is needed - directly to the roots, and excess moisture is easily removed. Soil with small clods is the optimal cradle for yours.
If you did not do deep loosening in the fall, you can do this in the spring. However, it must be carried out in a timely manner, when the soil is not frozen and is no longer too wet. After all, after loosening, the soil should settle and compact a little more - only after that can it be planted in it. If possible, try not to trample the loosened soil. For example, work mostly in reverse and use a board if you need to step into the garden.
Preparation of beds and other areas for planting
Compost slowly but takes a long time to provide nutrients and generally improve soil properties. And the plants after planting begin to grow well. But it is necessary to use mature, mixed with soil and sifted compost, which was "ready" last fall (especially for seedlings). It is best to apply it a couple of weeks before sowing. First spread the compost with a shovel or bucket over the planted surface in a layer of about 1 cm, and then mix with the soil, but do not burrow!
Prepare the beds - loosening in the spring: give air, weeds away
If deep loosening of the soil was carried out in the fall, light loosening is enough in spring to ventilate its top layer:
- To do this, use a grubber, cultivator or ripper.
- In the dug up soil, you must first crush large clods of earth with a pickaxe.
- At the same time, carefully collect the roots of the weeds - these efforts will pay off in any case.
It is best to loosen a couple of days before planting so that the soil has time to settle again.
How to get loose soil is an important point in preparing the beds for sowing and planting seedlings
The rotary cultivator, or star roller, is a practical tool for breaking up lumps and lumps and removing weeds. It will be especially useful on soils prone to clumping; in other cases, you can do with a rake.
Expert Advice: Put large clods of earth on top - they will serve you well there.
Level the soil well
Some soils are sometimes very difficult to level. To do this, you have to work with a rake along and across the surface and rake large clods to the side. The fact that the soil is slightly compacted again does not harm the plants at all, on the contrary, it provides the seeds and roots of plants with better contact with the ground.
Expert tip: Line up pits where water is stagnant because they can damage seeds and seedlings.
Paths and curbs between the beds
If the aisles are not paved with anything, then it is best to trample them well, and then cover with bark mulch or rubble. To keep the edges of the beds clear, use a string between the pegs or a piece of hose. A simple and flexible border for the beds can be durable plastic border strips or vertically dug plates. The wooden palisade looks, of course, prettier, but it outlines too rigidly.