Prepping Your Garden For Winter
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| You Know It's Coming!
The first frosty north wind blasts have arrived and it is only a matter of time before harsh winter weather hits us hard! You still have things to do in the garden to get ready for winter and for next spring! (Yes, we are always thinking about next spring!) Here's a list for you to work on during the next few weeks - consider it your honey do list from County Line Nursery.
Get outside and make sure you have good drainage around your plants! Few plants will survive a winter if their roots are shrouded in ice - which is what happens if water doesn't readily drain away. So be sure to work in plenty of Bumper Crop or Premium Composted Manure #2 around your plants.
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Protect new plants with wrapping. For the first year or two, protect your new evergreens by wrapping them loosely in burlap in fall a week or two after the first hard frost. Remove the wrap in spring as soon as the crocuses come up. Also wrap the trunks of newly planted trees with special brown tree wrap for the first 2 - 3 years. This prevents sunscald, as well as stops wildlife from nibbling on the bark. (We also sell a pretty nifty deer guard to protect your trees from rutting deer).
Keep plants watered in fall. They don't want to be soggy going into winter, but they also don't want to be dried out (which weakens them and makes them less able to withstand winter's challenges. keep your plants - especially newly planted ones (including bulbs) well watered until after the first frost.
Avoid fertilizing and pruning late into the season. In our area you can safely fertilize through Thanksgiving. A general rule of thumb is to stop fertilizing and pruning nearly all plants (except annuals, which will be ripped out anyway) two months before our region's first average frost date.
Don't cut back. Leave the tops on your perennials. The dying stems act as a natural mulch, and the tops also catch leave leaves to further protect the plant.
Mulch! the mulch you applied in spring and summer to suppress weeds and conserve moisture continues to serve your plants in fall by insulating the ground to prevent rapid, damaging changes in soil temperatures. For more winter protection you can add another layer of mulch to your flower beds. You can also lay pine boughs or other loose, fluffy natural plant material like chopped autumn leaves on the beds after the first hard frost. Avoid using whole leaves which can mat and suffocate plants. Remove this extra layer in spring as soon as you can detect any new plant growth under the mulch.
Prune! Wintry winds are a good reason to take care of pruning dead branches from trees and shrubs in fall. The strong winds and ice storms can cause branches to break and fall, potentially damaging property and hurting people, as well as plants.
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