Expert shares tips for preparing garden for winter

Leaves are falling and people are preparing their garden for the winter.

Rick Van Duyvendyk owns Dutch Growers and joined CKOM’s Mark Locshack on the CKOM Morning Show last week.

Van Duyvendyk said that lots of people tend to cut their perennial flowers down in the fall, but explained they should actually do it in the spring.

“I like letting mother nature do its thing,” said Van Duyvendyk. “So normally they die off and flop down to the ground and then they catch snow and act as a mulch, so I like myself personally to cut them back totally to the ground in the spring.”

That wasn’t the only advice Van Duyvendyk shared.

Van Duyvendyk also explained what type of fertilizer he likes to use on his lawn.

“I use the groundskeeper, it’s a local made company and it’s a 16, 10, three, 17, and then a three which is iron,” said Van Duyvendyk. “The 17 is a sulfur that is lowering the pH in soil. Our soils around the Saskatoon area are high in pH because they are more alkaline based.”

Lowering the pH levels will help plants and your lawn get ready for winter.

Van Duyvendyk said to water the fertilizer instead of letting it sit because the nitrogen will eventually evaporate.