At the time of this writing, many of us in southern British Columbia are encountering some unusually cold weather right now. On the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, some of us have a foot or two of snow on the ground. But there are still some things you can do in your garden or for your garden. Here’s our winter holiday advice.

Prepare to Prune Deciduous Trees

Wait until the arctic flush is over and there are a couple of weeks forecast ahead with temperatures that are not so severe. Then go ahead and prune if you haven’t done it already. It’s better to prune any deciduous trees including fruit trees before they start budding out which may be in February or March.

Be extra careful if the branches are quite frozen, and give them clean cuts. While it’s very cold and snowy, walk around and look at your trees. You can mark with some ribbon which branches you will cut as soon as it warms up slightly.

Order and Start Seeds

Yes, you can start seeds now inside. However, once seeds sprout, you have to be able to give them adequate (probably artificial) light to keep the seedlings happy before the plants can go outside.

If you don’t want to have seedlings inside, you can at least plan your flower and vegetable beds and buy or order the seeds for the spring and summer. If you get your seeds now, then you will not encounter the “sold out” message that is so common in the spring.

Water Indoor Plants

Don’t forget about your indoor plants. Many of these plants are dormant in the winter or very slow growing, but they still need to be watered occasionally.

If you’re tired of this winter weather, then come by our store in Surrey and cheer yourself up by walking around and seeing what we have in stock. We are open all year round, and it’s always uplifting to be surrounded by plants.

Art Knapp has 15 locations across British Columbia and is well known as the go-to garden centre for everything garden-related. Art Knapp, himself, began the business in the 1940's, and now, 80 years later, you can find more than he ever dreamed of in our stores. Come and see us on King George Boulevard in Surrey.

If you have any questions about this article or want to talk to us about gardening, just give us a call at (604) 596-9201.