What to do in a Mallorca garden in winter

Winter is the working season in a Mallorcan garden. The ground is damp, the heat is gone and almost everything structural is easier to do between December and February than at any other time of year. It is also when pruning, planting and repairs cost less, because nothing has to be kept alive through a heatwave while the work happens.

Prune what should be pruned

Olives and deciduous fruit trees in late winter, once hard cold has passed. Mediterranean shrubs get a light shape rather than a hard cut. Leave anything that flowers in spring alone until after it has flowered, or you are cutting off the display.

Do the structural work now

Walls, terracing, steps and paving all belong in the cool months. Machinery can work without cooking the crew, ground is soft enough to dig, and any planting that follows goes in during the same season instead of waiting a year. Terracing on a medium garden runs €11,500 to €16,500, and companies have more availability now than in April.

Check the irrigation before you forget it

Turn the programme down or off, clean the filters, and walk each zone with the system running to find the emitters that stopped working during the summer. A blocked dripper found in January is a two-minute repair. The same dripper found in July is a dead plant.

Plant, if the window is still open

October to December is the main planting season, and early winter still works for trees and shrubs. After February, anything going in has less time to root before the heat, so the calculation shifts toward waiting for next autumn.

What to leave alone

Frost-tender plants in the inland valleys. Do not cut them back before the cold has finished, because the old growth is protecting whatever is underneath it. Wait for the new shoots to tell you what survived.

The full year is in the Mallorca planting calendar and the garden maintenance calendar, and what maintenance costs across a year in the maintenance cost guide. For winter work, send the job through while companies still have the season free.