7 Landscaping Tips and Tricks for the Winter Season
Winter is known for creating havoc on the landscape with its ravaging effects, leaving behind broken plants, wind-damaged plants and trees. Make a move now to ensure that your garden is in good shape. Follow these 7 tips and observe how your garden performs during the winter months.
Landscaping Tips and Tricks for the Winter Season
A proactive approach for your garden is the most effective strategy to stop the winter troubling your pretty trees. What you do and don’t do right now before winter arrives, is vital to keeping your plants healthy and well-nourished until spring arrives once more. Make sure your plants are able to withstand the frigid winter by following these 7 ways to help.
#1 Only Your Zone Plants
This is a simple trick to follow. Stick to plants that thrive in the zone of your zones, regardless of how eager to go for that tempting Zone 7 beauty in your Zone 5 backyard. If you don’t have an ideal microclimate to a less sturdy import, stick with plants or trees which can stand up to whatever winter can throw at them.
#2 Put Down Mulch
The application of mulch is among the most effective defenses against cold temperatures, as it blocks the frequent freezing and thawing that causes plants to overheat. Apply 3 to 4 inches of mulch once the ground has begun to freeze. Avoid placing mulch in close proximity to the trunks or the stems of plants. Shredded bark, finely chopped leaves or straw make great mulches.
#3 Dig Delicate Plants
Some plants are not hard enough to last through winter, even in colder climates. Elephant ears, cannas as well as dahlias need to be dug out and kept for winter months in case you wish to reuse them in the next year. Dig up the cannas as well as elephant ears following the first hard frost. Does it before the ground freezes? For dahlias, keep track of the dates of your first freeze and then remove the tubers two weeks later.
#4 Keep Watering
The winter months can really affect the evergreen plants. If they’re not watered properly to the maximum extent possible, their water reserves could be depleted, which makes them more vulnerable to winter burns and even death after the ground freezes. Also, their roots cannot absorb water anymore. The fluctuating temperatures at the time of winter’s end and when icy stretches are punctuated by mild, spring-like days are especially difficult for evergreens that did not receive enough water before the ground began to freeze.
#5 Wrap Them Up
Trees that are just being planted require a bit of winter TLC, if not until they’re big enough to stand by themselves. The trees with thin bark like ash, linden, and maple are vulnerable to sunscald and cracking frost when left unprotected. All young trees will be in the dining room of rodents that eat the soft bark under the snow covering. Make use of a corrugated tube, to wrap your tree from top to bottom with thick paper burlap or tree wrap. Remove it as soon as the tree starts to grow in the late winter or early spring.
#6 Wrap the Grafted Roses
The majority of the roses you will find in your garden at home are grafted. This means that the rootstock beneath the ground isn’t identical to the one growing above the surface. For instance, the roots of the renowned Knockout range of roses aren’t tough enough to endure a harsh climate. So, gardeners graft the Knockout onto a stronger rootstock. Create a six- to-eight inch cone-shaped mound to keep the graft just below the soil line. Take it down when the graft begins to grow in spring.
#7 Do Not Use Salt De-Icers
It is inevitable to experience ice in the winter months, but using a salt-based remedy to deal with it is a guaranteed way to kill lawn and landscape plants. Leaves and roots absorb the salt. It removes moisture from plants’ cells and causes the tissues to become dry. Try to use sand. However, even when that does not work, select a de-icer such as potassium or calcium and use it only sparingly.
Takeaway
Searching for the best landscaping friend who can assist you in creating the perfect landscape that complements your home’s design and budget? Contact Tea Lane Nursery today to learn more!
