Winter Protection

By: Lyn Chimera

Winter means it’s time to protect your garden for the upcoming season. Whether you have critter problems or are protecting your plants against the harsh weather conditions, a little effort now can make the difference between a healthy or dead plant come spring.

A big issue is critter control. Damage from deer, rabbits and mice can be devastating to many shrubs and trees. Your yard may wind up looking like a fortress, but preventative measures really work!

First let’s look at deer protection:

• Fencing is the most effective way to prevent deer from making a salad bar out of your shrubs. There are many types of protective fencing available including a sturdy deer mesh that is not too visible from the street. The deer mesh is somewhat expensive but reusable for many years. All you need is some wood or metal stakes to attach the fencing. It’s very easy and works!! Just make sure you have the barrier far enough from the plant and high enough so the deer can’t reach over it. Remember they can stand up on their hind legs to eat!! Burlap or snow fencing can also be used along with shrub coats. Once you invest in a shrub coat you can use it for years.
• Deer sprays can be affective but needs to be reapplied and are not effective in temperatures below 50. There are a few sprays available that last the whole winter however, they leave a grey, powdery coating which takes a while to wear off. It doesn’t hurt the plants, but some people don’t like the way it looks.
• If you have young trees deer will love rubbing their antlers on the bark. You can get tree guard tubing for around the bark which prevents the rubbing. This also helps with rabbits.

Next on the damage control list are rabbits and mice.

• Placing a cylinder of 1⁄4-inch mesh hardware cloth around the trunk. The cylinder should extend 8-10 inches on the ground to keep mice away and 18 to 24 inches above the anticipated snow line for rabbit protection. You can also use chicken wire for rabbits. They do feed in winter so having the top of the barrier well above the snow line is crucial as the rabbits can hop on top of deep snow and munch away. Hardware cloth can be left on year-round, but it must be larger than the trunk to allow for growth and removed as soon as the trunk grows enough to get close.

General winterizing:

• The freezing winds of winter can be terribly damaging to some shrubs. Burlap and shrub coats are very effective protection. I find a pyramid shape works well with the burlap.
• Any newly planted or tender perennials should be given an extra thick layer of mulch to help prevent the ground temperature from fluctuating. It’s the repeated freezing and thawing of the soil that causes plants to “heave” or be pushed up out of the soil. It’s important not to mulch BEFORE THE GROUND freezes, however. Mulching too soon invites small rodents who are looking for a warm spot for the winter to snuggle in.
• I usually wait until after the holidays for this chore and cut up some pine boughs to lay over the plants and shrubs. They are easy to put down and easily removed in the spring. Discarded Christmas trees are readily available.

One last thought...Leaves are a wonderful resource. Please don’t waste them. There are lots of ways to use nature’s leaf bounty:

• Mulch them with your lawn mower and leave them on the grass! Mulched leaves are an excellent natural fertilizer for your lawn.
• If the leaves are too thick to leave them all on the lawn, mulched leaves are a wonderful addition to a compost pile.
• Mulched leaves are also excellent as soil amendment in your garden beds. Just scatter the mulched leaves throughout the garden. It’s like stewing colorful confetti! Once the ground freezes you can also use them as a mulch to protect tender perennials and shrubs.
• If you still have leaves left over, store the mulched dry leaves in garbage bags or
• containers and use them as soil amendments and leaf mold next spring. Poke some holes in the bags to allow for heat and excess moisture to escape.
• I also scatter mulched leaves under shrubs and into ground cover. It decomposes and is great way to fertilize. When adding mulched leaves to ground cover I just toss them over the top and gently work them in with a broom.

It all sounds like a lot of work, but it’s well worth it in the long run!

HAPPY GARDENING!
Lyn Chimera
Lessons From Nature
716-652-2432
lyn@lessonsfromnature.biz

---