Preparing Your Garden for Winter Endurance
In the colder months, it's essential to take care of your garden to ensure your perennial, annual, bulb, tree, and shrub plants not only survive but thrive. Here are some key tips and techniques to help you through the winter season.
Mulching
Adding 8-10 cm of organic mulch, such as straw, leaves, compost, or conifer boughs, around the roots of perennials, roses, azaleas, rhododendrons, berries, and bulbs, insulates root systems from freezing temperatures and soil moisture loss. This simple step can make a significant difference in protecting your plants from winter's harsh conditions [1][2][3].
Wrapping Shrubs and Trees
Shrubs prone to snow damage can benefit from being bound with twine in a spiral from bottom to top, creating a conical shape that sheds snow more easily. Then, wrap them with breathable burlap or commercial shrub wrap to protect against cold winds and deer browsing. For thin-barked or young trees, use tree wrap on trunks to prevent frost cracks and sunscald, removing it in spring [3].
Covering Tender Perennials and Container Plants
Protect plants without indoor space by using protections like evergreen boughs, straw, burlap, old blankets, or sheets. Wrap pots in bubble wrap and place them in unheated garages or basements where temperatures stay above freezing. Avoid leaving pots hanging [1].
Watering Before Freeze
Thoroughly water shrubs before an early freeze to keep soil moist, which helps prevent premature leaf drop and winter desiccation [3].
General Garden Prep
Rake leaves, remove diseased plant material, and mulch beds to suppress winter weeds and improve soil health. Trim or stake bushy herbaceous perennials to prevent wind damage. Use compost or manure mulch on asparagus and rhubarb beds [2][5].
Soil Condition Improvement
Incorporate organic matter such as leaves, compost, and aged manure into soil in fall to improve structure, fertility, and moisture retention, preparing plants for winter stress [2].
Managing Snow Loads
After heavy snow, gently knock snow off fragile shrub branches but do not remove insulating snow from soil at the base of the plant [1][3].
Tips for Cool Climate Plants
For cool climate trees and shrubs, water them regularly and deeply before the ground freezes, especially evergreens. For cool climate annual plants, mulch with a 3 to 4 inches layer of chopped leaves, grass cuttings, and other compost materials. Some low maintenance rose varieties may require a warm base of mulch or compost to keep them healthy during winter, while delicate rose varieties may need covering for shelter, such as cloches or plant cones [6].
The fall season is also the best time to enrich the soil using compost for perennials [7]. Growing cool-climate hardy plants can help prevent soil erosion and increase the ground's organic matter content.
By following these tips, you can insulate roots, protect exposed plant parts from wind and cold, maintain soil moisture, and prevent physical damage from snow or ice, ensuring your plants can survive and thrive through winter.
References: [1] The Spruce, (2021), Winter Plant Care: How to Protect Your Garden. [Online] Available at: https://www.thespruce.com/winter-garden-care-1412267 [2] Gardener's World, (2021), Winter Gardening: How to Protect Your Garden. [Online] Available at: https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/winter-gardening-how-to-protect-your-garden/ [3] The Old Farmer's Almanac, (2021), Winterizing Your Garden. [Online] Available at: https://www.almanac.com/content/winterizing-your-garden [4] The RHS, (2021), Winter Care for Plants. [Online] Available at: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=493 [5] The Gardening Channel, (2021), Winter Garden Care Tips. [Online] Available at: https://www.thegardeningchannel.com/winter-garden-care-tips/ [6] The National Gardening Association, (2021), Winter Rose Care. [Online] Available at: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/roses/winter-rose-care.htm [7] The National Gardening Association, (2021), Fall Garden Chores. [Online] Available at: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/fall-garden-chores.htm
When winter approaches, consider wrapping your shrubs with breathable burlap or commercial shrub wrap to protect them against cold winds and potential deer browse (Reference: [3]). For optimal growth, add mulch around the base of perennials, roses, azaleas, rhododendrons, berries, and bulbs, providing insulation against freezing temperatures and soil moisture loss (Reference: [1][2][3]).
