By Dave Zeldon and Ely Schweyer
Got cabin fever? Perhaps you’re going a little stir crazy looking out the window and seeing the drab, limited pallete in your seemingly lifeless outdoor space. It’s important to embrace this time of year as the composting and cleansing part of Earth’s cycle before spring’s renewal – but that doesn’t mean we should be trapped inside forever. Here’s a winter/early spring list of activities, divided by indoor (Part 1) and outdoor (Part 2), for the gardener and yard keeper.
☝️ First, let’s quickly note the important activity happening under the snow – and how your actions now will affect the summer garden!
What's Going on Outside When We Aren't Paying Attention?
Before heading out to attend to these jobs have a look at the ground beneath you.
If it is frozen hard you are good to go but avoid treading on the crowns of perennials.
If it has been warm and sunny and the soil is warm and dry, consider laying down a few planks to walk on.
If the soil is soggy then postpone those tasks until it has dried. What we are trying to protect is not your shoes but the soil itself.
Ideally, soil is comprised of 50% solid materials such as minerals and organic matter in various stages of decomposition, and 50% open air space. Water from rain or melting snow enters the soil, displacing the air. Wet soil is easier to squish down and that process is called compaction.
While walking on wet soil would not seem to have much effect, it occurs within the depth where annuals, perennials and lawn grasses have their roots. Compaction makes it harder for roots to grow through the soil. Roots can grow stronger to push aside the soil particles, but tougher roots are less effective at drawing in nutrients and moisture. Removing air spaces makes it more difficult for water to percolate down so compacted soils remain wetter. Plants don’t grow as well and are more prone to insect damage.
The freeze/thaw cycles of fall, spring, and winter heave the soil relieving compaction and aerating the soil; a good way to start the growing season. Preventing further damage to the soil is relatively simple. Stay off it when it’s wet. Later, consider using pavers or pathways in heavily travelled areas of the lawn. Aerate the lawn with a machine that removes small plugs of soil and redistributes them over the surface. In beds and borders, add compost and use a thick mulch layer to absorb some of the pressure.
And stay off it when it’s wet.
With this in mind, we can appreciate Earth’s renewal capabilities, as well as prevent destroying our yards and gardens!
Part 1: Activities for When it’s too Cold and the Soil isn’t Ready Yet
Yup, it’s bleak out there. It’s time we make that herbal tea and turn our attention to creating a lively, green indoor environment, even if just to get us through the winter. Here’s a to-do list for trapped gardeners and plant enthusiasts to make the most of our wintry sentence.
Indoors: Get Inspired!
- Expand your knowledge: There’s an endless plethora of botanical media at our fingertips, use this down time to learn more!
- Sustainable winter crafts: Why buy décor and gifts when you can make them from materials found outside? Perhaps you dried flowers or found some interesting seed pods – time to display them, and perhaps, eventually compost them.
- Visit botanical gardens: Ely’s boyfriend took her to the Royal Botanical Gardens as a birthday gift last year! Botanical gardens are a great way to experience interesting plants being preserved in a welcoming environment that differ from the dreary winter outside.
- Get floral: Try buying flowers and displaying your own arrangements! Colour is something we sometimes lack in the wintry months, and this is a good way to introduce it impermanently.
Indoors: Thinking Ahead!
- Use this winter down time to plan the next garden season - find more here on garden planning.
- Use a garden journal to assist your garden planning - see here inspo for garden journaling.
- Consider planning companion plants - see more here on companion planting.
- Go pot shopping – your local greenhouses and ceramic shops would love your support in the winter.
Indoors: New Beginnings!
- Bulb forcing and small science experiments: Flowering bulbs like amaryllis (more on amaryllis here) aren’t just a holiday splendor! Now is also the time to create cuttings to share with friends.
- Invest in winter fruiting botanicals like indoor fruit trees. Small, potted citrus by the window don’t only liven up the place but offer nutritious treats in the winter. Consider a calamondin!
- Microgreens - see our blog about it! When it’s too early to start seedlings that will go in the ground, you can still garden right on your kitchen counter.
- In late winter, start seedlings: but make sure you don't do so too early! Untimely seedlings can be too leggy before it's time to plant them outside - learn about hardening off seedlings here.
Part 2: When the Soil IS Ready!
Suit up!
Outdoors: Don’t Fall Behind!
- Appropriate seasonal décor: It goes without saying stringing lights and ornaments everywhere is good for the spirits in these dreary months… however 😬… come February, they seem to lose their vigor. Taking the décor down in preparation for new exciting things to come is also good for the soul! Remember to recycle your Christmas tree (see how here)!
- Turn your compost! Perhaps you’ve faithfully continued to add to your compost all year – your garden thanks you! On a warm day, remember to turn it and aerate it so it’s ready for spring.
- Cover all your bases: Make sure to prevent rodents from damaging your tree bases by wrapping them well above the anticipated snow level – so rodents can’t chew your unprotected trees with the helpful elevation of snow!
Outdoors: Get Inspired!
- Go for nature walks: if you can safely go for a walk, hit the trails or stroll around your neighbourhood! A slow-paced change of scenery will help to fight your cabin fever, keep you active, and help you gather inspiration from the natural world.
- Visit your local maple syrup producers for tours.
- Don’t forget our critters: Provide winter homage and appropriate food for our nonmigratory friends (i.e., hutches and feeders) outside windows where pets can observe nature too!
Outdoors: Thinking Ahead!
- Winter weeding: Some tough varieties of plants have evolved to use other plants’ winter dormancy to their advantage, tugging them out now will ensure that you and all the wanted plants in your garden have a fair start this spring.
- Manage snow piling: Heaped snow piling can kill plants including lawn, as well as introduce gravel and debris to areas where gravel is not wanted. Make sure your snow piles aren’t suppressing anything you’d like to live this summer.
- Early spring: Perhaps ice storms and plows have done a number on your trees and shrubs - prune broken branches to prevent pests and disease from entering your plants.
- Litter control: pick up the debris revealed by melting snow so it doesn’t venture farther into natural habitats or tempt wild animals to hurt themselves.
Outdoors: Start Something New!
- Cold hardy crops in cold frames: Cold frames are doable! Use recycled materials - Victory gardens often used car windshields and old windows – to construct in-ground beds facing the sun (southwards) for passive solar heating.
- Winter sowing: Find more on winter sowing here.
We hope these suggestions help you stay green this spring and winter! For more gardening activities, see our other blogs here. We hope to see you this spring (March 5th, 2026) at Eising Greenhouses and Garden Centre! 🌱❄️
Who says your flower garden and your vegetable garden have to remain separate? Vegetable plants have plenty of aesthetic value, on top of providing us with delicious produce, and there are some unexpected benefits to incorporating them into your flower garden. It’s great for space-saving, too. If you only have room for one garden bed in your yard, plant a colourful variety of flowers and veggies to reap all the benefits of both!
Companion Planting and Foodscaping
Have you ever heard of companion planting? It’s pretty cool! The basic idea is that some plant pairings make good neighbours and provide each other with benefits that improve the growth and health of one or both plants. Many vegetables and herbs make good companion plants, but there are actually some flowers that make good companions for vegetables, too! For example, some flowers have pest repelling properties, so if you plant them near certain vegetables, you can keep away the hungry bugs, rabbits, or deer.
The Best Flower and Vegetable Companion Plant Combos
Plant these pairings next to each other in the garden to maximize the success of your plants!
Marigolds and Tomatoes are a winning combination because marigolds release an aromatic compound called limonene. Limonene repels whiteflies, which can do a lot of damage to tomato plants!
Nasturtiums and Cucumbers make great neighbours because nasturtiums repel cucumber beetles! Plus, nasturtiums are actually edible flowers with a lovely peppery flavour. You can mix them into a salad with your cucumbers!
Squash and Borage should be together because borage improves the flavour of the squash and repels hornworms.
Corn and Thunbergia grow nicely together because vining thunbergia needs a structure to climb. Tall corn stalks function as a living trellis, and the colourful thunbergia blooms make it look so much prettier!
Corn and Sunflowers are also a great pair because sunflowers increase the crop yield of corn.
Blueberries and Hydrangeas can live comfortably together because they both love acidic soil. Some Hydrangea macrophylla varieties will turn blue in acidic conditions, so if you want a cool-toned landscape, create landscape borders and shrubs with blueberry bushes and hydrangeas.
Onions and Chamomile look lovely together, and the chamomile improves the flavour of the onions.
Calendula and Asparagus are a perfect match because asparagus beetles hate calendula!
Some flowers are also great for attracting beneficial predatory insects that eat up pests that can harm your vegetables. Incorporating them into your vegetable garden will have great results! These flowers include:
- Rudbeckia
- Scabiosa
- Monarda
- Echinacea
- Iberis
- Cosmos
- Coreopsis
- Chrysanthemums
Attract More Pollinators with Native Flowers
Pollinators are essential for food production in our gardens, so you want to make your garden as attractive to them as possible. Local pollinators favour native flowers because they prefer the plants that they recognize! Check out our list of native plants of Ontario to add to your vegetable garden.
Planning a Foodscape Layout
When you’re planting vegetables and flowers together, be mindful of the size and spread of your plants so that you don’t block sightlines. For example, you’ll want to keep tall plants like corn near the back of your garden, so they don’t block your shorter flowers.
Short vegetables like lettuce and cabbage make excellent border plants for the front of the garden, and if you create a line of pest-repelling flowers behind them, your garden will have an excellent defence! Lettuce is also a great filler plant for flowers because they germinate quickly, so there’s less available space for weeds to take root.
Remember, you can grow vegetables and flowers together in containers and hanging baskets, too! Colourful hot peppers look gorgeous in a flower pot, and you can plant them with trailing petunias. The petunias will help repel aphids and other pests while creating beautiful trailing vines to hang down around your pepper plant.
If you’d like to start foodscaping in Ontario, visit Eising to see all the amazing flowers and vegetables that are ready to plant! Our staff will be happy to recommend other winning plant combos that can live in harmony together in the flower bed.