As winter approaches, read about how to properly care for your landscaping to maximize your spring results! 

People assume that winter weather causes all plants to die, but that's not necessarily so. TPS Landscaping is happy to design and install your landscaping, and even do the maintenance but we want to give you tips so you can do some work yourself, if that's something you enjoy!  There are steps you can take to nurture your plants so that come springtime, they are refreshed and ready to grow and bloom again. Freezes can affect plant life and in some cases might cause the plant to prematurely die, but follow a few of our quick tips to ensure your garden or flower bed comes back stronger than ever when we hit the warmer months.


Shear back your Liriope(Monkey Grass) to make room for new spring growth. Cutting back your Liriope is important so that it doesn’t overrun your garden. Cutting back in the winter allows the plant to lay dormant for a few months and grow fresh in the spring. Additionally, cutting it back rids the plant of dying leaves.

Make sure you are taking care of your more temperamental plants such as your bulbs. These types of plants are unable to withstand the winter temperatures and must be treated with care and brought indoors for the winter months. If you are pulling your bulbs out of the ground to store them make sure you pat off any excess dirt, but do not wash with water as that could cause the bulb to ultimately rot. When storing your bulbs you will want to find a cool, dry environment such as a closet or a basement and an easy storage container is a cardboard box, as you don’t want anything like a plastic bag that could trap moisture around your bulbs and cause them to rot. If your bulbs are already bloomed they can add a nice splash of color in your home during the dreary winter months.

Cut back your ornamental grasses six to eight inches, divide large clumps, and replace. Your ornamental grass can be cut back in the late winter or very early spring, as soon as temperatures stay consistently above freezing.
This is something that can be kept in mind throughout the winter, as it will not be a pressing gardening need until the weather starts to warm up, but it’s never too soon to start planning!
A method to cut the grass is called clumping. When you clump large sections of your ornamental grass you tie a rope or bungee cord around the clump of grass before cutting off the dead foliage.

It’s important to cut back flowering vines in the later winter because that is when the plant is dormant. You will want to cut the oldest stems to six inches in length because then the renewal process can begin.

All of these tips are meant to help your garden survive the winter and prepare for the spring. Most plants enter a sort of dormancy during the cold winter months, but the proper care of these plants ensures a beautiful and bright spring! And as always, if you are in Mills River, Hendersonville, Asheville or the surrounding area, give up a call for your Western North Carolina landscaping needs.