While it’s true that cold weather slows things down outside, there are several winter gardening activities that are crucial to the success of your garden.

It’s important to plan ahead.

The better planned you are, the more pleasant the experience.

Planning and dreaming: Your garden can’t fend for itself.

Start prepping your garden now for the spring and summer months.

Think about keeping a journal of what you’re planting and where the plants will be located.

They will be valuable resources next year when you’re making decisions on plant selection and crop rotation.

If you are planning on landscaping your yard, contact a professional now, even if your lawn is buried under snow.

Winter is generally a down time for landscape architects, so you might get faster service and more individual attention.

Perhaps it’s time to install a new trickle irrigation system or build a compost area.

Dreaming, planning and ordering materials are what occupies us in the winter.

Soil testing: Soil pH and other characteristics can tell you what will grow well in your yard and what won’t.

There can be much variation between the nutrients in your front yard and those in the back.

When the ground is not frozen, take a soil test.

You can purchase one from your local county Extension office.

It’s a valuable piece of information that can improve your plant growth.

Seeds and seed catalogs: Now’s the time to begin ordering seeds for spring planting, especially if you’re hoping to try something exotic or hard to find.

Don’t wait until the spring rush to place your order.

Not only do you risk your order being out of stock, but some garden centers and catalogs offer early-bird discounts.

Tree and shrub maintenance: Proper maintenance of trees and shrubs can extend their life.

Check your shrubs, especially when the snow thaws.

Do you see chewing at the bark?

You could put a small metal barrier around the trunk (not touching the trunk) so that mice and voles cannot get to it.

Road salt: Each year, countless landscape plants are injured or killed along highways, streets, sidewalks and driveways.

In many cases, the major cause is the use of salt to melt ice and snow on paved surfaces.

The most effective way to reduce plant injury from salt is to eliminate its use or at best reduce the amount applied to melt ice.

Repeated use of salt over a long period of time may affect groundwater supplies and damage the soil surface to a point where nothing will grow.

When salt is applied along with an abrasive like sand, cinders or gravel, you gain the value of traction as well as the melting power of the salt.

The combined material generally requires less salt to get the job done.

Birds: Believe it or not, feeding the neighborhood birds is key to keeping your backyard ecosystem in balance.

We rely heavily on our feathered friends to hang around and eat the insects.

It’s part of the natural cycle.

Not only that, but they add a little beauty to what can be a rather drab time of year.

And they’ll serve as reminders that even during the winter months, things are still moving around in the garden. Maybe you should be, too.

“Growing Green” is contributed by Diane Dorn, Lehigh County Extension Office Staff, and Master Gardeners. Information: Lehigh County Extension Office, 610-391-9840; Northampton County Extension Office, 610-813-6613