Getting your garden junk ready for winter

For the most part, the majority of my garden junk stays out for the winter. Only you can decide what you want to leave out and what you want to bring inside to be protected from the elements. I live in zone 5 and we have long cold winters. If you are in the south, you may be able to leave more outside than I can. Here are some guidelines I go by to decide how to prepare my garden junk for winter.

1. If it's breakable bring it inside. The exception to this rule for me are my glass totems. I started leaving them out two years ago, and have had no problems. If you have a lot of tree branches that fall in the winter, you may want to move them to a more protective spot. Experiment. If you have as many as I do, it won't matter much if one gets damaged.

2. If it's irreplaceable and you love it, bring it inside for the winter. Plain and simple.

3. If it's metal, it's usually safe to leave outside.

4. If you want to preserve the paint job, bringing it inside for winter will usually prolong it's life.

5. Anything that can crack should be brought inside for winter. Examples would be plastic, clay or glass items that can fill up with water and crack when frozen and bowling balls. I never leave my garden spheres out all winter. I've put too much time and love into them and I don't want them to crack.

6. Fountains and birdbaths should be drained if you live in areas with freezing temperatures. Turn birdbaths upside down and cover fountains with a large plastic bag or bring inside after being drained and dried. Once I had a cheap clay birdbath crack even though I turned it upside down. It could have be due to the heavy snows that piled on it during the winter. It just sort of cracked right in half. I have plans to try and repair it and then mosaic it, but I haven't gotten around to that project yet.

7. Good quality concrete statues will usually be fine outside, but covering them with plastic or bringing them inside will prolong their life.

8. Any mosaics should be brought inside for the winter. My only exception are wall hangings that were properly prepared on wedi board or concrete backer board. I usually hang my mosaics where they have some protection from an overhang or porch, so they are not totally exposed to moisture all the time. And since they hang on a vertical surface, they don't have a chance to collect water. As long as they have been sealed well they should be OK outside. When in doubt, bring it in.

9. Furniture made from wood should be covered with plastic during the winter or allowed to weather naturally over time. Sealing the piece every spring helps to prolong it's life. Painting every couple of years is also helpful and it gives you a chance to change up the colors once in a while.

10. Delicate wind chimes should be brought inside, especially if you experience high winds during the winter months. I tend to leave my metal ones out all winter, but they may require a little re-stringing or cleaning come springtime.

There you have it. My tips on winterizing garden junk. It might sound like I bring in a lot of stuff, but I really don't. I love to collect junk, so I don't mind a few casualties over time. If it all survived, where would I put it all!?!

As you can see by the photo above, my metal tipsy teapot totem stays out all winter, as do my glass totems, glass insulators, copper trellises, leaf casting birdbath and wall hanging, metal bird tree and assorted wind chimes and glass garden dangles. Any decorations that hang on the side of the sheds also stay out. These include old tools, metal signs, and syroco wall hangings to name a few.

Have I missed anything? I'd love to hear how you winterize your garden junk.