The harvest is over, the first frosts have hit. But that doesn’t mean gardeners are off the hook until spring.

Wander through Dayton MetroParks’ Wegerzyn Gardens this month, for instance, and you’ll see half a dozen staff members working alongside volunteers to lay compost on garden beds, plant spring bulbs and plan for the coming year.

“There’s always tidying up, straightening up, pruning back, and the composting is really important,” says Betty Hoevel, the Gardens’ adult education supervisor. “The freezing, thawing and melting over the winter will draw the (compost’s) nutrients into the soil, so when the spring comes, the roots will pick up the nutrients and get excited and start doing well.”

Cleaning up the year’s debris also is crucial for any garden, not just showpieces like those at Wegerzyn, says grower Rick Kossoudji of North Dayton Garden Center & Nursery. As more people begin following organic and green gardening styles, Kossoudji says, many make the mistake of thinking that it’s OK to leave old vines and plants to disintegrate in the soil.

“It’s robbing nitrogen from the area, because nitrogen helps break things down,” he says. “It takes two to three years before it starts to re-release that nitrogen. You have to remove the plants from the location, place it on the compost pile and give it four or five years to be well broken down, turned into good black earth with lots of earthworms going through it.”

Kossoudji suggests that, rather than covering an entire garden plot, gardeners can fill bushel basket-sized holes with compost in strategic locations for important planting.

Other ways to improve next year’s garden include trimming and shaping the edges of flowerbeds, tying back or supporting tall grasses, and cutting back trees or shrubs, Hoevel says, adding a reminder to mark where bulbs and other plantings have gone, so you can find them in the spring.

You don’t have to be outside to enjoy a touch of the garden during the snow season. Other good winter gardening tasks include: starting seedlings for transfer when the weather gets warm, planning out themes and plant selections for the coming year, reviewing seed catalogs and ordering early and cleaning and organizing garden supplies and storage areas.

Planning themes doesn’t mean having everything match, Hoevel says, but having elements that “go well together, with color and texture and rhythm going to make a wonderful, cohesive experience of the whole garden.”

Most important, Kossoudji says, is to review notes from the previous year.

“I encourage home gardeners to write notes on a calendar, so they know from week to week some of the basic things they may have to do — adding seed, turning the soil, adding fertilizer. If you have those notes, you know if you used too many plants, or if you need extra, or if you spaced them correctly.”

In the meantime, don’t miss out on the beauty of your garden in winter, from the vibrant colors of holly berries to the shadows and texture of evergreens.

While it’s important to, when safe, use a broom to gently remove heavy snows or ice from trees and shrubs, lighter snows can mean a lovely transformation of your view.

“Now is a good time to notice shapes,” Hoevel says, “like corkscrew willows that have wonderful twisting branches. We’ve left up the mums and the Russian sage, because if you leave those frameworks up, they give you framework so you have shapes and layers to look at when the snow and the frost are there.”

Contact contributing writer Ria Megnin at ria@riamegnin.com.