3/9

Root Vegetables

Yes, you can keep potatoes, winter squash, beets, carrots or other root vegetables in your cool garage, as long as your temperatures stay relatively steady and above freezing (upper 30s to upper 50s degrees F), without high humidity. You’ll want to ensure they stay safe from critters, too.
Hang potatoes or onions in a burlap, mesh or other breathable bag. (Don’t store them together, though, as the gas onions emit causes potatoes to spoil.) Other root vegetables can go in screened, ventilated crates or wooden storage bins to protect from critters. Preserve carrots in a bucket or bin with damp sawdust or sand, which shields them from light, provides insulation and keeps them from drying out.

4/9

Soil, Pots and Seed Trays

Consolidate and stack up bags of soil and empty pots. Use a pegboard or garden tote to organize planting tools. Get a jump-start on spring and pre-fill seed-starter trays with soil. Store them near the top so they won’t spill, and so you can easily find them to bring indoors and start planting with seeds in March or April.

5/9

Tender Perennials, Bulbs and Tubers

Stash dormant tender perennials (such as geraniums), flower bulbs (such as tender lilies), tubers (such as dahlias and sweet potato vines) and corms (such as gladiolas) in loose dirt in pots, or in sawdust in cardboard boxes. That helps insulate them until spring. If temperatures dip toward freezing, make sure they’re insulated with a blanket.

While you’re at it, pre-plant a pot of spring flower bulbs like tulips, daffodils and hyacinth. Then mark your calendar to bring them indoors in January or February and force them to bloom for much-needed color.