3 tips to care for the winter garden: Linda Yang

As the author of the "City Gardeners Handbook" (previously reviewed here on Metropolitan Gardening) and a alumni garden writer for the New York Times, Linda Yang is a go to for tough gardening questions. She's the long time friend of NYC plant luminary David Protell and Garden Center Manager Rose DiCostanzo - so invited Metropolitan Gardening to the Chelsea Garden Center in Red Hook where she walked us through 3 important tips for seasonal gardening and decorating. We caught up with Linda on a beautiful Sunday afternoon - the Garden Center was stunning with evergreens and coniferous plants. It's a super place to get a tree! Linda raved about the benefits of her gardening as therapeutic - she remarked that being able to talk about gardening was the best thing for the change in the seasons and changes in life.


1. Don't do any planting after the ground is frozen.

Not to mention it is annoying and difficult to dig in frozen soil but Linda recommends not planting after the frost because this can disturb the soil structure. Your bulbs may have to wait for spring after the frost so be sure to get them in the ground before it's frozen.
2. Decorate using pine boughs pushed into the soil at the cut branch end for aesthetic benefit.

Push the ends of the branches into the soil and keep your garden and window boxes looking green. This will bring a bushy pleasant look and keep the energy up in your cultivated spaces.
3. Use pine boughs as mulch to protect your garden and window boxes during the winter months.

Pine boughs are beautiful as a decoration but Ms. Yang also directs us to pine boughs usefulness as a mulch. They can cover the garden with green and the mulching effect gives us the benefits of improving soil, reducing compaction, preventing crusting of the soil and increasing water absorption.