BRACING OURSELVES FOR THE REAL COLD
We finally saw some snow in January. I’m one of the few who welcomed its arrival, because I know how beneficial snow is for the health of our plants. I always brace myself for February, expecting that to be the worst of our low temperatures. Must admit that I’m cheating a bit, having spent the past 3 weeks in Atlanta helping out my kids with a new baby. It will be a rude awakening when I step back into 20 degree weather.
If we see some relatively mild weather, it will be tempting to go into our gardens to start cleanup activities, getting a bit of a jump start on spring. PLEASE HOLD BACK. Trampling in the garden when the ground is saturated will cause increased compaction of the soil, and could reduce the oxygen available for the root systems of the plants you love. I’m not worried about the mud on your boots, though that will be a pain. We won’t know the full effect of our winter weather until the plants actually start to leaf out. Some of our plants’ extremities may come back to life in the spring. And some of our plants will be dead.
If your plants are dead, instead of going into a deep depression, look at it as an opportunity to try something new. You plant-a-holics out there know exactly what I mean.
SNOW & ICE
Try to brush heavy snow off of evergreen trees and shrubs. If allowed to stay, the snow could cause abnormal spreading between branches. Such damage is frequently seen in boxwoods, arborvitae, upright junipers and ‘Sky Pencil’ Japanese holly. If desired, you can bind the plants with twine, fishing line or vinyl coated wire before the first snowfall. Though somewhat visible, these ties will protect the plants without your help. The binding can easily be removed in the spring.
Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about ice. If you attempt to break off the ice, you are likely to damage the plant even more. Just hope the ice melts as quickly as possible. In the spring, careful pruning can fix most of the winter damage. New spring growth will take care of the rest.
THINKING ABOUT ADDING TO YOUR LANDSCAPING IN THE SPRING?
It’s not too soon to give me a call. I’ll be happy to help you with your plans.
DO CONTACT YOUR LANDSCAPE CONTRACTOR NOW
If you know there’s a real good chance that you will have winter damage that will need attention this spring, do try to get a date on your contractor’s calendar. The schedule for the spring will be filling up quickly, especially as soon as the weather breaks. If you have a special occasion coming up this season, do share that information with your contractor. They will usually try to accommodate these requests.
The DEER will be voracious. Spray everything on the first sunny day we have, and the temperature is above 40. Be on the lookout for browsing in case you will need to take more drastic measures, such as wrapping your shrubs with deer mesh. Check existing deer mesh for holes. In one case, the deer made a slit near the bottom, and came in under the fence.
Stay warm, and remember, you can always give me a call if you have any questions.
