These changes all affect the way your houseplants grow during the winter but that doesn’t mean you can’t manage those changes to give your indoor greenery a good winter.

Good lighting is important to all plants. Some need bright light and others need lower levels, but all plants need the right light for them. There are some things you can do to help your plants deal with the change in lighting.

• Gently dust off smooth leaves and blow off downy leaves so that your plants can make use of all the light they get.
• Move your plant closer to a window without putting it in a chillier setting.
• For plants near a window or strong one-sided lighting, rotate the plant one-quarter turn every week to prevent the plant from leaning.
• Increase the lighting in the room- either leaving lights on for longer during the day and evening, or by adding additional lights near the plants.
• Indoor temperatures are often a little cooler during the winter, but there are some homes where warmer temperatures are the choice. Either way, it will affect your plants’ needs and how they do during the winter. Temperatures a few degrees cooler mean slower growth for most plants. If your home is a few degrees warmer, it will encourage your plant to grow a little faster, but without the brighter lighting needed for the healthiest growth.

Watering routines should be changed for the winter. With lower light and shorter days, your houseplants will naturally grow more slowly and use water more slowly. You’ll still want to water just as deeply as you usually do, but it’s important that you do that less often. Watering before it is needed will keep the soil wet, encouraging root rot diseases. Your plant will tell you when it’s thirsty — the top of the soil will be dry and the pot will feel a little lightweight.

It’s very difficult to make up for the drier winter air. Smaller plants can be set on pebble trays of water, and for larger plants the most important thing you can do is protect them from the drying air of furnace vents.

What about fertilize for your indoor plants during the winter? This is one houseplant task you can skip for a few months. Fertilizer will push new green growth, but wintertime, with its lower light levels, should be resting time for plants, not growing time.

Question: What can I do now to be ready for spring gardening?

Answer: With our frigid weather lately none of us want to be outdoors doing much more than rolling our garbage cans to the curb and back. Fortunately, there are several garden-related things you can do during the winter from the comfort of your home to make your spring garden startup easier.

Do you do any container gardening or grow your own transplants? If you haven’t already cleaned any of the containers you plant to reuse, now is a good time to get them washed, air-dried and sanitize.

Wash off any remaining soil particles or other debris with fresh water (and a scrub brush for pots, if needed). That’s usually enough for flowerpots and containers if there weren’t disease problems last year. Young seedlings are more prone to disease than mature transplants, so after you’ve rinsed your seed starting containers you can sanitize them with a ten-minute soak in a ten-percent bleach solution (one part bleach in nine parts water). Rinse everything in fresh water, air-dry and you’ll be ready to start your seeds in the spring.

Browsing catalogs and choosing varieties for this year’s garden is a nice midwinter pastime. You’ll have plenty of time to read about new varieties and order your seeds before anything is sold out.

Do you already map of your garden? If you don’t, now is the time to get that done. Having a map makes it easier to figure out whether you can fit in all the varieties you’d like to grow. A map also makes it easier to keep track of plant rotation.

Apple pruning begins sometime in late January, depending on our weather and where you are in the county. Winter is a good time to review your understanding of good pruning practices, if you have fruit trees. Also make sure your tools are sharpened and in good condition to make the job easier.