Guest Author - Katelyn Thomas

A few quick winter gardening tips:
* If you live in areas that receive heavy snows or icy conditions, wrap twine around your evergreen shrubs a few times to give them extra support and prevent branches from snapping off.
* After a snow fall, use a broom to knock most of the snow off of the branches of small trees and shrubs to prevent their shapes from being damaged.
* If you don't take your ceramic or concrete birdbaths in for the winter, lean the top of your birdbath on its side in a sheltered spot to avoid having it break from all of the expanding and contracting ice.
* Place a non-breakable birdbath close to your house and keep water from freezing with a birdbath heater.
* Walk through your garden at least once a week. Look for plants that have heaved out of the ground, signs of damage from rodents or deer, and clean up dead branches and debris.
* Don't forget to just take a moment to enjoy the beauty of a winter garden. If your garden doesn't seem interesting in the winter, now is the time to make a note to buy some shrubs and trees that will provide winter interest next season.