Winter is Coming. Is Your Garden Ready?

With October upon us, winter weather conditions are soon to follow. According to the National Weather Service, the typical first freeze of the year for Johnson County occurs by the latter part of October. With it, the seasonal snow window for the region, spanning October through April, also begins. Whether we ultimately wind up with a snowpocalypse at our doorstep or an unusually warm off-season, a little proactive effort in fruit and vegetable gardens now can help avoid costly problems later.

With fruit trees, October is the time to install both trunk wraps and tree guards. When looking at wraps, these garden supplies are typically used on recently planted or soft-barked fruit trees, specifically to protect the bark. This is because, as winter progresses and the bark itself freezes, the winter sun will eventually repeatedly warm the southwest side of the trees. In smooth-barked or young trees, this warming can equate to thawing, followed quickly by freezing when the sun goes down. This rapid thaw-freeze cycle occurs quickly enough that, as with a soda can expanding in the freezer, plant cells can rupture, eventually resulting in large lesions along the outside of trees. Trunk wraps help to moderate these fluctuations, avoiding the issue.

As for tree guards, these devices are typically made of a metal cage or hard corrugated plastic and encase fruit tree trunks, though for a different reason. In the winter, food and water sources can be scarce for hungry wildlife. As such, an easily chewable bark with sweet, watery sap underneath may be just the ticket they turn to for holding themselves over. Also occurring in the fall and early winter, deer may rub their antlers to remove the velvet, and this activity may result in trunk damage if a deer finds one. For both of these reasons, tree guards protect fruit trees from damage that could otherwise be incurred from wildlife interactions in the off-season.

Also worth bearing in mind regarding wildlife, hoses and drip tubing are equally desirable to various types of garden vermin that may be looking for a winter drink. As such, left unremoved, a gardener could potentially return to their space in the spring only to find the irrigation apparatuses in pieces. This is one of the reasons that, depending on the timing of the first freeze as indicated by weather forecasts, irrigation should be rolled up and stored in advance, typically in October. The other reason is, of course, to avoid general freeze damage to outdoor pipes. All hoses should be regularly disconnected from water spigots preceding the first freeze. If warmer weeks persist, they should be brought out to the garden as needed during non-freezing days and detached and rolled up after use. Doing so will not only protect pipes but also protect the hose rubber from degrading faster in the elements.

As for other needs in the vegetable garden, gardeners will do well to keep in mind once again that one of the most useful tools in their pocket for seasonal pest control is winter weather itself. When a vegetable garden has been thoroughly cleaned out of all plant residues and debris, it leaves remnant insect pests, diseases, and even weed seeds with fewer places to hide when the deep cold of winter arrives. Then, when exposed to this, populations are much more likely to be significantly knocked back, helping keep active populations at bay in the next growing season for a while, as they have to rebuild.

Then, finally, it’s important for gardeners putting their gardens away at this time of year to remember — there may still be tools in storage sheds and garages they need to get to. Take the time now to move the snow shovels and snowblowers toward entryways rather than burying them toward the back. Check the fuel in snowblowers, alongside spark plugs and oil. In preparation for ice events, it may also be useful to have chainsaw equipment prepped and on standby if needed.

If you follow these steps, you’ll be ready to tackle whatever winter is ready to throw our way.

by Anthony Reardon, Horticulture Small Farms Agent, 2026