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| Winter Landscape Care |
Welcome to This Month in the Garden! With winter here and the landscape buried beneath a blanket of snow, it is a good time to review some basic maintenance tips to protect and prevent possible damage to your plants.
THE BENEFITS OF SNOW: As the temperatures plunge below freezing, a layer of snow covering landscape plants actually acts as nature's insulator, keeping the soil under the snow at a more constant temperature and shielding the plant from excess winds. This protects tree and shrub roots, perennials and bulbs from constant freeze and thaw damage. As the snow melts, landscape plants are provided with a slow release of moisture, which is ideal for the roots, while small amounts of nitrogen captured from the atmosphere act as a natural fertilizer. Insulated soil also helps to protect microbes and earthworms over the harsh winter months.
FROST HEAVING: Without snow cover, continuous freezing and thawing can push plant roots out of the ground causing damage and possible death. The snow controls rapid temperature changes and helps to keep the plant in place. Plants such as Heuchera (Coral Bells) and Hosta are very prone to this, so a layer of snow is beneficial. |
| Winter Landscape Care |
SNOW WEIGHTED TREE BRANCHES: While it is tempting to go outside and start removing snow from weighted branches, it is also a good time to exercise caution. Under the snow-covered branches could also be a frozen layer of ice. Any manipulating of the frozen branches could result in easy breakage and permanent damage to your tree. A helpful tip is to very carefully dig snow from around trapped branches and allow them to spring back up on their own. Never shake branches with ice. It is best to let nature take its course and allow thawing to occur. The branches will gradually regain their shape as the ice melts preventing any harm to your landscaping. Further damage can easily be avoided by wrapping the branches together with arbor tie. The cloth tie cannot be seen from the outside, will prevent future damage from another snow.
BROKEN OR DAMAGED TREE BRANCHES: Before an approaching storm, try to walk outside and inspect trees and shrubs on your property for any broken or damaged branches. If you do spot a damaged branch, tie the two split halves together by wrapping them tightly together with arbor tie. Start by wrapping the two halves tightly together and continue wrapping above and below the crack for extra support. If caught in time, the cambium (or growing layer) of the plant will repair itself and fuse the two parts of the damaged branch together. I have personally saved split branches on holly, azalea and arborvitae using this technique and the plants have recovered beautifully. Identifying these issues now and tending to them prior to the snow can mean the survival of your plant.
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| Outdoor Container Planters |
PROTECT OUTDOOR PLANTERS: Potted outdoor plants are much more prone to winter damage. Ensure that when creating your container garden, choose plants that are cold hardy one to two zones colder than your area, in case of a deep winter freeze. Within 1-2 days before a deep freeze is to occur, give your outdoor containers a good watering. When the temperatures drop to below freezing, the roots will be more insulated, and have a supply of moisture as the snow melts. You can also move the container into a non-heated garage or place it against a wall where it is protected from the wind. Another tip is to wrap the container in bubble wrap, burlap or a towel, which will act as an insulator to help hold in the heat around the roots until the deep freeze has past.
I hope you enjoyed This Month in the Garden and have found these winter gardening tips to be useful. How has the winter been treating your garden?
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For now, keep warm and as always... happy gardening!
Author: Lee @A Guide to Northeastern Gardening, © Copyright 2010-2026. All rights reserved.
