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IS YOUR GARDEN READY FOR WINTER STRESS?
This is investment season in the garden - your investment of time now will pay dividends next spring. Here are some of the chores you might want to consider this week:
Divide lilies, day lilies and hosta this fall if the clumps are large, and replant them in your garden's bare spots. Add some mulch after you've planted the clumps and these perennials will grow roots in their new environment for several weeks following several hard frosts.
The next couple of weeks is an ideal time to plant trees and shrubs. You can find terrific bargains on many trees and shrubs in the fall because garden centers prefer to sell balled-and-burlap and container stock than over-winter it. Water newly planted trees and shrubs liberally when you plant them, and then about every week to 10 days of it continues to be dry. Don't drown them by watering more often than once a week.
Like perennials, trees and shrubs will continue building their root system following frost if you've mulched the base of the plant with several inches of wood chips or shredded bark.
Aerate your lawn now, especially if your lawn is growing on compacted clay soil. Chaska Building Center and several other local businesses rent lawn aeration machines. Leave the plugs lay on the ground and they will decompose and provide nutrients to your lawn's root system this fall and next spring.
Later this fall, when sub-freezing temperatures become routine, it's time to cover perennials to protect them from winterkill. Few things are as disappointing to a gardener than realizing in May that a promising perennial failed to survive the frigid cold of January and February. Plants such as chrysanthemums, iris and hosta will survive winter if you've covered them properly in late fall.
First, be sure to choose winter-hardy perennials, and don't plant them in poorly drained locations where they could rot before developing strong root systems.
Most perennials can be protected adequately by placing 4 to 6 inches of loose mulch (e.g., straw, marsh hay, compost or pine needles) over the plant in mid- to late October, after there is some frost in the ground. This mulch protects the crowns (growing points) and helps keep the ground frozen all winter.
Without mulch, the soil may thaw during warm winter weather. When it re-freezes, the soil heaves. This alternate thawing and freezing damages many perennials, especially very shallow-rooted ones.
You can remove the mulch toward the end of March or early April as the upper layers thaw.
Prepare now for rodent, deer and rabbit damage. Last winter, I discovered almost too late that rabbits or voles liked the taste of a newly planted Honeycrisp apple tree I planted last fall. They ate the outer layer of bark from about half the circumference of the tree before I noticed the damage and installed a collar of hardware cloth around the base of the tree. Fortunately, the tree survived and the nibbled bark is regenerating. My observation about rabbits is, if it's not made of metal or plastic, they'll eat it!
Several good plastic tube products are available ("Tubex" and "Supertube"), or you can purchase 1/4-inch or 1/2-inch hardware cloth and form it into a circle around the trunk. The tube should extend into the ground 1-2 inches and extend up at least 2 feet for rabbits and 4 or 5 feet for deer.
Maples trees should be wrapped with tree wrap to prevent bark splitting from the warm wintertime sun. Each day as the sun sets, the bark cools off very rapidly and can split. Wrap young maples now and remove the wrap again next spring.
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PUTTING DOWN ROOTS:
A Delightful Blend of
Gardening Wisdom, Wit
and Whimsy
$10 + $2 for shipping
by Cliff Johnson |
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