Winter bares all as gardens give up their secrets

Lots of plants are taking a mid-year rest but for gardeners, things can really hot up in winter. It is the season for taking stock and shifting gear. Everything is possible. We can plant at whim, change our minds, move everything about, go radical with our pruning.

Soils are moist and forgiving; it will be months before blazing sunshine stresses plants and saps our own inclination to get cracking outside. In short, we have a window for hard work and this includes preparing for the seasons ahead.

Before the closure of the Open Gardens Australia scheme, there was a big push to open winter gardens to reveal the "bare bones" and make the underlying structure plain to see. But it was always hard to rustle up takers. Not many gardeners were prepared to show their gardens at a time when they weren't looking their best. It's a pity, because getting things right in winter can set a gardener up for the whole year in terms of design and general maintenance.

Pruning is a great case in point – it's about both improving structure and maximising the production of foliage, flowers and fruit. Those months when deciduous trees and shrubs are without foliage are perfect for making architectural cuts.

Few things in gardening are absolute, however, and some people prefer to prune deciduous fruit trees in autumn, when cuts heal more quickly and there is less chance of diseases entering through them.

The timing for cutting back ornamental grasses is also pretty fluid. But despite the current predilection for holding off until late winter, be warned that Miscanthus, Calamagrostis and other such statuesque grasses rarely assume their cool-season grandeur without the lick of ice that comes from a northern-hemisphere frost.

It's worth keeping whatever you do cut back, unless it's pest-ridden or diseased. Green clippings can be composted or used as mulch to help retain soil temperature and moisture, while branches and other woody bits can – given the right equipment – be chipped. Leave the chips to age and break down and then incorporate them into the soil without the risk of depleting nitrogen.

Deteriorating leaves can also be turned into mulch, soil-enhancer, potting-mix additive, compost-booster or even wildlife habitat. One of the easiest ways to contain them is to heap them into a wire cage, compost bin or perforated plastic bag, moisten and leave to rot. Apply the resulting leaf mould to soil to improve structure and water-holding capacity.