If summer residents with the onset of cold weather can move to warm city apartments, then the plants remain to winter on the site - and we need to help them survive the frosts, protect them from winter threats.
This article is for indefatigable gardeners who, like ants, drag more and more new plants to their site, which creates a constant headache. All you need to remember is the climatic zones in which these plants usually grow.
And now winter is just around the corner. What can be done to protect not too
Who are cold-resistant plants? But in harsh winter conditions, without our help, they can suffer greatly and even die.
INCREASED WINTER RESISTANCE
The winter hardiness of trees and shrubs is determined by the moisture content in the shoots and, to some extent, by the thickness of the cell walls of wood and bast. The gardener's task is to stimulate a decrease in the level of free water in plant tissues. The set of measures is the following.
1. Pruning the green tops of the shoots by 5-10 cm: it is produced in the third decade of September.
2. Fertilizing plants with potash fertilizers that do not contain nitrogen. For this you can
use a complex nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (N: P: K) fertilizer, but with a specified ratio of constituent elements. It should be noted that the predominance of phosphorus over nitrogen not only promotes the formation of flower and fruit buds, but also reduces the rate of growth processes in tissues. This, in particular, stimulates the thickening of cell walls. The usual ratio N: P: K = 1:1:1 is replaced by O: (0.5-1): (1.5-2). Top dressing with potassium and phosphorus is carried out in the first decade of September with the onset
warm period, which phenologists call the Indian summer.
3. Cutting off a part of the foliage, which also contributes to the ripening of shoots, as it reduces the intensity of photosynthesis processes and inhibits tissue growth. However, it must be borne in mind that deciduous plants transfer slag substances to the foliage, which, in the absence of leaves, will remain in the stems. Therefore, the foliage should be cut in mid-September only from the upper third of the shoot. This general rules for trees and shrubs.
PREPARATION OF PLANTS FOR WINTER
Analyzing the numerous questions of gardeners related to the preparation of plants for wintering, I came to the conclusion that advice can be generalized by plant species.
Woody and tall bushy forms
In winter, in addition to frost damage, that is, tissue ruptures caused by frozen sap, damage to tree forms is also caused by breakage of branches, as well as damage to the stem bark by mice and hares.
Breakage of branches from strong gusts of wind is theoretically possible, especially in coniferous trees(spruce, fir), but rarely happens. More often there is a bend and breakage of branches (sometimes trunks) under a mass of adhering snow. To avoid this, plants with a dense crown, especially conifers, are tied up with ropes. In deciduous trees, it is advisable to carry out autumn thinning of the crown, when they have already shed their leaves. In order to avoid freezing of wood in places of cuts, stumps 4-5 cm long are left, and cuts with a diameter of more than 1 cm are covered with garden pitch or oil paint.
Hares peel off the bark of trunks and thin twigs, which they can reach along the snow crust. As a rule, to protect trees from hares, it is enough to make a chain-link fence around the trunks.
Mice and rats not only get close to the trees on the crust, but also make moves in the snow. Tree trunks are usually protected from them with roofing material. But there is another way - cut off a piece plastic pipe suitable diameter about 1 m long and cut it in a spiral. The barrel is wrapped with Ursa insulation or any other, for example mineral wool, and carefully wind the helically cut pipe (Fig. 1).
Most pests of landscape gardening crops hide in the ground for the winter. With shallow digging of the soil around the plants, when night temperatures are below + 5 * C, many pests and their larvae with clods of earth appear on the surface and die. Autumn whitewash tree trunks - prevention from many fusarium (caused by fungi) diseases.
Bushy forms and preparing them for wintering
They may suffer from frost, February sunburn, and rodents. But due to the intensive growth and tillering of plants, injuries and grasses are quickly compensated by young shoots. However, shrubs tolerate winter better when covered with snow, which can be done by bending them down or collecting snow around them.
bushy ornamental plants, which do not tolerate frosts below -24 * 0, like tree-like forms, need special protection. There are several ways to prepare these plants for wintering: from almost complete cutting of the stems at a level of 15-20 cm from the ground - at a rose, hydrangea - to the construction of protective boxes filled with sawdust.
When choosing shelter methods, one should not only protect plants from low temperatures, but also to ensure air exchange in the shelter. Otherwise, the plants may suffocate - or steam up during thaws. As practice shows, often recommended spruce branches and sawdust do not let air through when ice forms on them. The most successful protection option is the use of white geotextiles (lutrasil, spunbond, agrospan) with a density of 30-40 g / m 2.
Large bushes can simply be wrapped with these materials. For small bushes (including dwarf forms of thuja) should be done wooden frames and wrap them nonwoven fabric. In autumn, such shelters are well ventilated, in winter they should be sprinkled with snow, in spring they allow melt water to evaporate and protect plants from burns.
Preparing for winter aquatic and semi-aquatic plants
Zoned near-water and marsh plants - reeds, cattails, arrowheads - usually easily tolerate icing and frost. If they serve as a decoration of the pond, then for greater safety they can be sprinkled with snow.
Growing in temperate climate zone aquatic plants, such as egg capsules and water lilies, often called water lilies, overwinter as rhizomes at a depth of 0.8-1 m or more. If, for some reason, the reservoir became shallow in autumn, and completely frozen in winter, then these plants, as a rule, die.
Cultivated ornamental varieties of both semi-aquatic and aquatic plants are unlikely to endure a long drop in air temperature below -20’C and cold water up to +4*C. Therefore, for the winter it is better to remove them from a decorative reservoir and place them somewhere in the house.
If aquatic and semi-aquatic plants were kept in special baskets, then after cutting the foliage and some drying, they are transferred to the basement or other utility room in the baskets. There the plants will overwinter at a temperature of +4 to +8*C. So that the rhizomes do not dry out, the earth in the baskets must be moist, which requires moderate watering.
If aquatic plants were planted directly into the ground, for example, into a cavity-lacunae arranged under water, they are dug up, the foliage is cut, inspected, and rotten roots are removed. Rhizomes or tubers are placed on clean sand in basins or other containers and covered with sand. Sand moderately watered. In the spring, the water level in the basins is gradually increased, and when the water temperature in the ornamental reservoir rises to + 8 * C and above, the plants are planted in a gap.
Preparing the garden for cold and frost - simple tips:
- Bases of rose bushes and similar heat-loving ornamental shrubs covered with sand in autumn.
- From sunburn since February, cypresses and thujas are covered with lutrasil or kraft paper.
To cover flowerbeds, rabatok, alpine slides and individual bushes, you can successfully use greenhouse arcs covered with geotextiles. - The bushes are covered with light geotextile and wrapped at the very base.
- Snow is a reliable shelter from the cold. Small plants perfectly tolerate wintering under a thick layer of snow.
- If it is not possible to remove the whips of climbing plants from the supports and lay them on the ground, they are wrapped with light geotextiles along with trellises.
- Coniferous bushes and low trees are tied with ropes to avoid breakage of branches from adhering snow.
- Conifer shelter construction for the winter. In the background, wooden frames are visible for sheltering globular thujas.
Preparing - a garden and a garden for winter - summer residents share their experience
Organica solves everything!
I'll tell you how I prepare the site for winter.
I'll start with large beds, I have four of them, 3 × 5 m, according to the rules of crop rotation, I plant potatoes and cabbage on them. After harvesting potatoes, I sow two beds with white mustard in rows every 20-25 cm. I water well until it rises. I sow the third bed, under cabbage, with rye, since mustard is not suitable for cruciferous. In early spring, I cut off the rye at the root and leave it to overheat right up to the planting of cabbage in May. The fourth bed - with cabbage. At the end of October, I cut off the heads, and leave the stalk with leaves to feed the worms.
But back to the first two beds.
Mustard manages to drive out the stem by 0.5-1 m (the top can be mowed), falls under frost, closes the ground and remains until spring - its roots “plow” the soil to a depth of 1.6 m (rye - up to 3 m). Rye is my favorite crop, I sow paths, high ridges and places where wheatgrass has grown with it. I cut the wheatgrass with a chopper, sow rye, water it for three days, and forget. She gives spikelets, brightens, and the next year, by July, wheatgrass finally survives (it doesn’t work in one year).
Under the shade of fennel
I make high beds instead of compost heaps, so that I don’t shovel them later, and I don’t want to carry compost all over the site. I retreat from the track 80-100 cm, in length - as it will, I hammer four pegs, put a few layers on the ground
ev old wallpaper or newspapers. Then I start to put grass, food waste, feces - I sprinkle everything with earth and water it. Such a bed can be used for the third year, preferably for seedlings. For three years, you can not fertilize it with anything, but it takes a lot of water.
Rye is quite aggressive, it is friends only with cornflower, so when sowing I do intervals of at least 30 cm.
In the spring, when planting time comes, the rye rises above 0.5 m. I cut it into mulch: first the north side, then the west, then the east, and leave the southern rows until ripe as a cover for plants from the scorching southern sun.
I cut the unripe rye with a sickle at a height of 20 cm from the ground, dry it for a couple of days. Then I lay, first of all, between the rows of strawberries. Rye turns white and protects well from the sun, lies for a long time.
From the remaining rye, I either cut off the spikelets, or completely cut it off at the root (I do the latter more often), and dry it. With a rope in two places I tie sheaves with a diameter of 20-70 cm. I use them in the fall when planting winter vegetables. And before winter, I sow dill, parsley, carrots and onions. Cultures alternate in three rows to protect each other. I put sheaves of rye on top, and in the spring I shift them into the aisles. Sheaves “work” for three or four years, I put the spent ones under bushes and trees, where they finally rot.
In autumn, I don’t forget about shrubs either: I cut, throw fertilizer and dig shallowly around, everything is the same with trees. I tie young trees with old nylon stockings to protect them from rodents and the spring sun. I fill old trees with water if there is little rain.
In winter, besides cabbages, I still have stalks of pepper, eggplant, tomatoes, corn, sunflowers - all this is excellent food for worms, besides, it retains snow, covers it from the wind, and the soil is not so eroded.
In addition to rye, fennel pleased with its beauty this season. Only in the third year, it was possible to obtain several bushes of this grandiose, up to 3 m tall, culture. It does not require support until autumn and constantly gives greenery when the dill has long since dried up. Along the paths, in addition to corn, I sowed sunflowers on both sides. With good watering, the stems were driven up to 3 m, 20-30 ovaries were formed on them. I thought it was small to cut off, but left everything. They decorated my dacha for another month, and then the sparrows got something.
: We start sowing in greenhousesSpring is already...
Since the main quantity cultivated plants came from places where a milder climate reigns, or is the result of hybridization, then without winter shelter, some of the plants may simply suffer and even die. Using the remaining autumn days before the cold weather is the time to prepare the garden for winter.
Winter shelter is necessary, first of all, for all insufficiently cold-resistant plants: rose, oak-leaved and large-leaved hydrangeas, rhododendron, palm-leaved maple, grapes, hibiscus and others. Most of the new varieties of traditionally grown plants also proved to be intolerant of frost. For example, such large-fruited raspberry varieties Arbat and Black Cumberland, and the blackberry variety Agavam. During the first wintering, warming is required by plants planted in autumn and, therefore, have not had time to take root reliably during this time, as well as imported seedlings, which may still be in the growth stage, have not had time to acclimatize and prepare for the cold.
In general, plant seedlings are not sufficiently resistant to winter only in young age, but several years pass and they become strong enough to winter without special shelter.
Preparing plants for winter
First of all, it is necessary to insulate root system non-hardy plants. As a heater, a layer of mulch from rotted compost or deoxidized high-moor peat is suitable. You can also use shavings, composted bark, spruce branches. Mulch also nourishes the plant, protects the roots from cold and wind. In addition, it helps to retain moisture in the soil.
Plants that prefer "acidic" soil, as a rule, mulch with high-moor peat (pH = 2-3). These types of plants include heathers, erica, some types of magnolia, hydrangeas, rhododendrons and others. Next comes the turn of sheltering the aerial part of the plant. Here, material such as spruce or pine spruce branches works optimally. It is easy to use, looks stylish, does not cake and gives plants access to air, but also has phytoncidal properties. Bamboo, reed, agrofibre may also be suitable. But such a heater makes sense for tying boles of grafted plants.
But the use of straw and other raw materials that attract mice is not recommended. The category of prohibitions also includes a film that does not give access to air, which is fraught with fungus.
In a snowy area, boles after tying can be spudded with earth (20-30 cm). Only hilling is better not to carry out too early, but only after the onset of stable frosts.
snow pest
For many fragile, evergreen plants that need protection from frost and winds, you can install small "huts" from sticks and other improvised materials, which are subsequently insulated with spruce branches, compost or peat. To prevent the spruce branches from being blown away by the wind, it is better to fix it with wire with pins stuck into the ground, or with a strong rope.
Very important point there is a binding of coniferous trees with a crown in the form of a column, ball or cone. This is done in order to ensure the tree from breaking branches under the weight of snow. As a rule, a few turns in a spiral are sufficient. At the same time, the ends of the cord are fastened with a hairpin fixed in the ground or on a tree stem.
Rodents pests
You should not be inactive in the fight against hares and mice. To protect against these animals, it is necessary to spread a wire mesh over the surface of the beds with bulbous plant species, through which the young growth will successfully germinate in the spring. A fine-mesh net or roofing paper can protect the boles of young trees. For rodent control, special chemicals- repellents, as well as ultrasonic and electronic repellers and all kinds of traps.
Video Tutorial: Preparing the Garden for Winter
In autumn, the garden is no less troublesome than in spring or summer. And the main one is to prepare the garden for winter so that the plants survive it safely.
- Conduct sanitary pruning of trees and shrubs. At fruit trees cut diseased and dry branches into a ring. Clean the cuts with a garden knife and disinfect with a solution blue vitriol(1 teaspoon per liter of water). From shrubs, remove shoots, excess shoots, dried and diseased branches. slices large area after a few hours, cover with garden pitch.
- If you grafted fruit trees in the spring, by autumn the scion will reach more than half a meter in height. Therefore, the pegs standing nearby must be replaced with higher ones and the shoots should be tied, giving them a strictly vertical position. If the strapping material cuts into the stem, loosen it.
- Cut off the fruiting shoots of raspberries and blackberries. Bend annual shoots to the ground so that they overwinter better.
- Clean the bark of fruit trees from pests. First of all, carefully examine the bark of the stems and the bases of the skeletal branches. You will see how many pests have chosen fruit trees for their wintering. These are the caterpillars of the apple and plum codling moth, and the sawflies, and the gooseberry moth, and spider mite, and many others. Destroy their "winter apartments": scrape them off on a thick paper bed, and then burn them. Those that are located in the soil will be killed by frost if the trunk circles and row-spacings are dug up. And from wintering under the bark berry bushes relieve sanitary autumn pruning.
- To prevent diseases, you can spray boles and skeletal branches of trees with a solution iron sulphate.
- Prepare roses for winter. In order for them to overwinter well, it is necessary to remove all unripe inflorescences from polyanthus and miniature roses, and hybrid tea cut half a meter from the ground, cutting out all the soft shoots. Then rose bushes spud 20-25 centimeters with earth and another 10 centimeters with peat. A good cover for roses is spruce branches, it will hold the snow and prevent it from compacting. In addition to spruce branches in our area, a film is also usually required. But it should not be covered with roses before the onset of stable sub-zero temperatures, so that they do not start to sing.
- Remove low-winter-hardy vines from the supports: honeysuckle-Caprifiol, lemongrass, climbing rose shoots. Clematis must first be cut. Lay the whips on the ground, spreading them so that they do not freeze, sphagnum moss, leaves or spruce branches. Shouldn't be used sawdust, hay or straw, as they become damp, which does not contribute to a good wintering.
- The vines removed from the supports can not be covered with anything: they winter well and so.
- Properly dried gladiolus corms are arranged according to varieties in nylon bags and placed in boxes. Close the boxes with lids and wrap them in newsprint so that the insecticide evaporates more slowly. Optimum temperature storage 1-5°С, relative air humidity about 80%.
- When night frosts have damaged most of the dahlia leaves, dig up their tubers, cut the shoots 4-5 cm above the root collar. Rinse them, cut out the damaged parts, sprinkle the cuts with crushed charcoal. After that, the tubers are dried in a cool room (+ 5-12 ° C) for about two weeks. Now they can be put away for winter storage.
- Dry the dug out tubers of crocosmia (montbrecia) and begonias. The optimum storage temperature for them is + 2-8 ° С.
- Dug out at the end of September, the rhizomes of the crown anemone and the root tubers of the Asian buttercup, after digging, are washed, treated in a fungicide solution and dried to the state of "crackers". Then they can be put in a box and stored until spring at room temperature.
- Bend shrubs to the ground that require shelter for the winter - roses, action, kerria, weigela, plum-leaved spirea, budley, etc. To do this, it is convenient to use "spears" from gnarled branches of trees.
- Cut off the aerial part of perennials herbaceous plants, leaving shoots about 8-10 cm long. In phloxes, aconites, stubble, rudbecky, echinacea, up to 10-15 cm of stems are left.
- Korean chrysanthemums bloom until late autumn, but before the onset of frost they must be cut at a height of 5-10 cm and mulched with a layer of peat.
- Spud lilies, clematis, roses and rooted cuttings on 15-20 cm, cover them with spruce branches so that they do not freeze in winter. You should not start covering the bulbous ones before the ground freezes a little, otherwise in warm weather they will begin to grow, and then nothing will save them from freezing.
- With the onset of frost, cover the roses with spruce branches, dry leaves or other covering materials. It is important not to cover the plants ahead of time so that they do not begin to rot.
- Bulb plantings - tulips, daffodils, hyacinths (especially on alpine slide) - with the onset of frost, cover with leaves or wood chips layer 10-15 cm. Press on top with spruce branches.
- Mulch with moss, shavings or leaf litter from healthy trees problematic perennials - incarvillea, varietal echinacea, capricious mountaineers. With the onset of persistent frosts, they will also need to be covered with lutrasil. It is also desirable to cover lilies, platycodon, phlox, young tree-like hydrangeas, as well as large-leaved hydrangeas.
- Pour the soil under perennials and flower beds.
- Introduce dolomite flour into the soil under mature trees and shrubs of fruit crops. This fertilizer is necessary to deoxidize the soil.
- If you are going to sow greens before winter, prepare the beds. Lay plant residues in the soil that will warm the seedlings in the spring.
- In the dug up and fertilized soil in mid-November, sow Chinese aster, calendula, fragrant tobacco and other cold-resistant letniki.
- If you are going to sow before winter in small quantities flowers with small seeds (bells, foxgloves, etc.), dig containers with soil into the bed up to the shoulders. Then in the spring you will not "lose" seedlings. Place a bucket of earth or peat in a heated room to cover the seeds later.
- Prepare the soil for planting next year. Dig the earth to a depth of 25-30 cm without breaking clods. So the soil will freeze better and accumulate more moisture when the snow melts in the spring. Apply organic or mineral fertilizers.
- Prepare landing pits for spring planting of seedlings of fruit trees.
- Dig up the soil near the trunks of mature trees and shrubs. Do not break lumps. Upper layer the earth will freeze better, and this will destroy the pests wintering in it.
- Remove hibernating hawthorn nests, golden tails and mummified fruits from trees and shrubs. Burn them. If there were trapping belts on the trees, they must also be removed and burned.
- Use a special rake to remove dry leaves, dead grass and moss from the lawn. Refresh "bald" areas: sow them again.
- Fold in compost heap plant residues left after harvesting. You can also put fallen leaves there.
- "Shovel" the compost. To enhance the processes of decay, it can be spilled with a solution - 2 cubic cm of yeast and 400 g. granulated sugar for 10 l. water. Consumption - 3 buckets per 1 cu. m of compost. In this case, the compost will not freeze until hard frosts.
- If the fallen leaves look healthy and not wet, rake them into heaps and cover with plastic wrap so they don't get wet. They will come in handy for you to cover non-hardy plants.
- Collect and bury fallen fruit, diseased or rotten. The same must be done with the rotten fruits remaining on the trees. Dropped leaves infected with pests can simply be burned.
- Mulch the near-trunk circles of fruit crops that are especially prone to freezing. Bark or dry leaves can be used as mulch.
- Whitewash the stems and bases of the skeletal branches of fruit trees (apple trees, plums, and others). This will protect them from damage - not only by frost, but also by the burning spring sun.
- Tie the branches of columnar shrubs and conifers with twine so that the snow does not spoil their shapes.
- To prevent the branches of shrubs and trees from breaking off under the weight of snow, substitute props or frames under them. Branches can be tied with twine, twine or covering material.
- To protect against rodents, tie the trunks and bases of the branches of young trees with spruce branches (upper part down), cut branches of raspberries, blackberries, wormwood, reeds, tar paper or netting. This must be done with the onset of stable frosts. Protective covering should fit snugly against the bark of the tree.
- At the end of October, spray the trees with a solution of ferrous sulfate (300 g per 10 liters of water) to protect them from pathogens of many diseases.
- When the snow falls, cover with loose dry material - spruce branches, needles (but not sawdust) - beds with strawberries.
- To protect heat-loving plants, install shields from the wind, throw foliage, branches, spruce branches on the beds.
- Bring into the house containers with cold-resistant subtropical plant species left before frost on fresh air: boxwood, laurel, aucuba, cryptomeria.
- Put fuchsias and pelargoniums in a cold room for the winter, which you want to save until the next season.
- Drain the water from the outdoor water pipes so that the water does not burst them. Pour water out of buckets, barrels, tanks and other containers, turn them over. Disconnect irrigation hoses, fold and store. This must be done before severe frosts.
- Leave all taps open for the winter.
- Take care of your gardening tools. Clean them from the ground, wash, oil the blades of shovels, hoes, shovels, sharpen secateurs and garden saws. Change the broken cuttings from the tools and put all the inventory in a dry place for storage.
- Dry and remove the empty boxes, covering material and film.
- Remove greenhouse frame fences for storage. For disinfection, they need to be smeared with a 3-5% solution of copper sulfate (30-50 grams per 1 liter of water), dried and folded under a canopy or in a barn until next winter.
- Monitor temperature and humidity in basements and storage areas. The optimum humidity for storing vegetables is 90-95%, and the temperature is +1-2°C. If the temperature rises above 5°C, increase ventilation.
- At least twice a month, check the stored crop, as well as tubers, corms and rhizomes. Pick up the rotten ones and throw them away.
Before the onset of severe frosts, it is necessary to have time to dig up and bring flowers into the room that do not winter in the open ground. Before leaving them in the house, it is worth protecting them from diseases and pests by carrying out prevention. Dug out fuchsias , pelargoniums , Waller 's balsam , chrysanthemums will continue to bloom on the windowsill if the right conditions are created . The temperature in the room should not be higher than 15 °C. In general, in general, one should adhere to the rule: the higher the temperature, the more moisture and light plants need.
In the house you can settle petunias, ageratum, verbena. This will then allow you to cut cuttings from the mother bushes and get flowering bushes by the beginning of spring.
In perennials wintering in the ground, summer shoots are pruned for the winter. Do not rush to pruning the green mass of daylilies. This can provoke the growth of young leaves.
Another important autumn event is water-charging irrigation. In the presence of moisture in the soil, it is easier for plants to endure frosts.
In order for the plants not to suffer from the first frosts, they are dug in and the base is covered with earth. This event is relevant for roses, dahlias, young fruit trees and shrubs.
It is also important not to forget to dig in young, not planted in open ground plants, and cover them before the arrival of cold weather.
After the first night frosts, they start digging out dahlias, cannes, gladioli, tuberous begonias. Frozen stems are removed , tubers are cleaned , dried and put into storage .
With the onset of a stable sub-zero temperature, roses, clematis, hydrangeas, conifers, and grapes are sent “under the covers”. Climbing plants (roses, clematis, young campsis and wisteria) are removed from the supports and placed in a ring on the spruce branches. Coniferous branches are also thrown from above or a frame is installed on which lutrasil is pulled. To protect against excessive moisture, the entire structure is covered with a film. But a tree-like peony and conifers under such shelter can rot. Therefore, it is enough for them to build a frame and cover with agrofiber.
High non-frost resistant shrubs and young trees that cannot be bent to the ground are wrapped with several layers of covering material or “hidden in a bag”. The root part is covered with earth and spruce branches.
But it is enough to bend the hydrangea and weigela to the ground and cover it with dry foliage. Do the same with all perennials, frost resistance which have not yet been verified. More warm leaves should be added to strawberry beds and flower beds where hyacinths, tulips and lilies are located and will bloom next year.
In harsh winters, some ornamental trees and shrubs often freeze slightly, and sometimes freeze completely. To prevent this from happening, you need to properly prepare the plants for wintering.
Known that the frost resistance of the same plant is not constant, it varies depending on its physiological state and on the degree of readiness for winter.
Plants are more quickly damaged by frost during the period of active growth. when their slightly lignified shoots contain a lot of water. timely and proper care helps the normal completion of plant growth and the accumulation in it of the necessary amount of substances that contribute to protection from low temperatures.
Depending on the biological characteristics of plants, it is necessary to create conditions that increase their frost resistance: in early spring provide nitrogen, in summer - water and mulch the soil. Mulching is often used in severe winters to protect the soil from freezing and preserve plant roots.
Growth and maturation of the roots of trees and shrubs ends much later than the above-ground organs. To extend the growing season of the root system, it is necessary to delay the period of freezing of the soil and thereby give the young roots the opportunity to ripen.
To do this, the soil around the newly planted trees to the width of the location of their roots cover heat-insulating material- manure, humus, foliage, peat.
Sometimes rodents cause considerable harm to young plants. Great importance in the fight against them, they have the destruction and removal of weeds, digging tree trunks.
A reliable way to protect against hares is winter tying of tree trunks. Additional shelter of trunks and lower skeletal branches will protect plants from severe frosts. Such a shelter is especially important for protecting heat-loving trees. Leaves of many tree species, spruce branches, burlap, matting, special covering materials (lutrasil, spunbond) are used as shelters.
Consider specific ways winterization of some ornamental tree crops.
Decorative forms of firs cover with spruce branches or kraft paper from early spring and late autumn frosts (especially young seedlings). For the winter, the plants are mulched for the first two years after planting with peat or sawdust with a layer of 6–8 cm.
young pines And decorative forms with delicate needles often suffer from winter burns. They are also protected with spruce branches, which are harvested in the spring in mid-April. Some forms are preserved without damage if the branches are bent to the ground for the winter.
Young plants of pseudo-hemlock slightly affected by frost. Trunk circles are mulched with dry leaves with a layer of 10 cm. In the first winter after planting, young arborvitae should be protected from winter and spring sunburn, covering them with spruce branches or kraft paper.
Cypress trees are covered with peat for the winter 10 cm layer and then additional snow.
Many firs and their ornamental forms hardy and not damaged in harsh winters. Young plants in the first year after planting are best covered with spruce branches. With age, the winter hardiness of firs increases, and the need for shelter around the trunk circles disappears.
For the winter, trunk circles of lilacs cover with peat or dry foliage with a layer up to 10 cm. Standard plants to protect the trunks from frost holes must be covered for the first 2-3 years after planting, wrapping the trunks with burlap in 1-2 layers. With age, their winter hardiness increases. It is recommended to spud young plants of the snowberry before winter to a height of 15 - 20 cm, in the spring the ground should be raked away.
In severe winters, in unstable species of spirea, the ends of the shoots freeze over., so the bushes should be covered at the roots with dry leaves or peat with a layer of 10 cm. Some types of willow suffer from late spring frosts, it is better to cover them with craft paper or spruce branches. In standard plants, for the first 2-3 years after planting, the trunks are wrapped with burlap in 1-2 layers to protect them from frost cracks.
For a favorable wintering, rhododendrons require abundant watering before the onset of winter, until the soil freezes. For the first 2-3 years after planting, evergreen rhododendrons are recommended to be covered with spruce branches, undersized rhododendrons are completely covered with dry oak leaves, more heat-loving varieties - with kraft paper or pieces of roofing material, placing them on the frame.
Branches of deciduous rhododendrons are bent to the ground. In late March - early April, shelters are removed. To avoid spring sunburn, spruce branches are removed gradually on evergreens.
Parthenocissus at a young age it is recommended to remove it from the support for the winter and leave it on the ground under the snow, but with age there is no need for this. Many types of honeysuckle are hardy and do not require shelters. Curly vines from supports are lowered to the ground, as the buds are better preserved under the snow. Privet can be covered for the winter with dry leaves or peat with a layer of 10 cm.
Cotoneaster hibernates under a light cover of dry leaves, peat with a layer of 3 - 6 cm or under snow. Sometimes, in order to protect the flower buds from frost, the branches are bent to the ground.
Young Erics cover with peat with a layer of 5 cm or spruce branches. In heather plantings in late autumn, when the soil freezes by 5-7 cm, it is recommended to add to trunk circles peat or dry leaves with a layer up to 10 cm. From above, the plants can be covered with spruce branches.
In the spring, in mid-April, the shelter is removed, peat is raked from the root collar - this will ensure full flowering of the heather.
Anna Stepanova
