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Protecting your garden from old man winter

Contributed by: Nan Spence on 10/31/2006

HIGH COUNTRY HORTICULTURE
Colorado winters can wreak havoc on our gardens. Cold temperatures, dry winds, heavy snowstorms, sudden shifts in temperature, scalding sun and gnawing critters can all cause plant damage or death. Winter survival is even more difficult in years with little snow cover and below normal temperatures.

It is not too late to protect your garden against whatever Old Man Winter has in store. Applying winter mulch, tree wrap and critter barriers will all provide critical protection for your high country garden.

WINTER MULCH
A protective layer of winter mulch should be applied after the first few inches of soil are frozen. This is usually some time in December for most Evergreen gardens, although you need be aware of when this happens in various parts of your own garden. Generally, north-facing and shaded areas will be first to freeze with exposed south and southwest facing areas freezing later.

Winter mulch serves several purposes. It protects the crowns and tops of recently planted and marginally hardy perennials. It reduces frost heaving which forces root balls up out of the ground as the soil repeatedly freezes and thaws throughout the winter. By keeping the ground frozen, plants will also be prevented from sending out new growth at the first hint of warm weather in early spring only to be killed off when the temperature plummets again.

If you have planted perennials and small shrubs that are just marginally hardy for our area, you will want to apply a layer up to one foot deep over and around these plants. Often, a little extra winter mulch is all we need to keep those Zone 5 plants in our gardens from one year to the next.

Many of the hardy shrub roses we have success with in Evergreen, such as Austrian Copper, Hansa, of course, our native Rosa Woodsii, do not need special attention in the fall. A generous layer of mulch at the base will be enough. In spring, simply move back the mulch and prune any frozen or damaged canes. Less hardy roses and those propagated by grafting need additional preparation for winter. Once the leaves drop and the plant has gone dormant, usually in late October or November, cut off the tops of the canes leaving two or three feet of growth. Protect the graft union (the knobby swelling near the ground) by mounding up soil and mulch about one foot deep around the base of the plant.

Strong winter winds can displace mulch. Check regularly and replenish mulch when necessary. Keep mulch on hand in your garden shed or garage for this purpose.

Remove the extra mulch from all plants in the spring, preferably in installments to allow the plants to adjust and to avoid damage from unexpected late frosts.

SUNSCALD & CRITTER DAMAGE
The tender bark of young trees is susceptible to two kinds of injury that are more common in the winter - injury by the sun and by critters.

Sunscald occurs when the sun and its glaring reflection off the snow combine to warm a tree's trunk in late afternoon followed by the sudden drop of temperature at sunset. Sunscald shows up as a wound or canker usually on the southwest side of the trunk. Although scar tissue eventually grows over the wound, a permanent weak spot remains. To prevent sunscald, wrap the trunks of young trees with commercial tree wrap or individual plastic tree wrappers. Remove the wrap in spring to prevent pest infestations.

Our native Aspen is not as susceptible as other trees because of its light colored trunk. However, using the heavier plastic tree wrap also serves to protect Aspen from antler rubbing by deer and elk and nibbling by rabbits and rodents.

Rabbits and rodents gnaw on tree bark, especially when their populations are high and their food is scarce. Protect trees from small critters by caging the base of the trunks up to about one foot with strips of hardware cloth or wire. Deer and elk are also more likely to damage trees in winter than at other times of the year. Small trees can be protected by enclosing in cages made of wire or heavy plastic using stakes to hold the cage in place. The trunks of larger trees, where the branches are above the reach of the ungulates, can simply be wrapped with wire or heavy plastic at and below the browse and rub line. Be sure to loosen the wire as needed to allow for the growth of the trunk.

Nan Spence has certification in Rocky Mountain Gardening through the Denver Botanic Gardens and is both a Wildlife and Native Plant Master with CSU Extension Service. She is president of the Evergreen Garden Club. For more gardening information, visit the website of the Evergreen Garden Club at www.evergreengardenclub.org.





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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
Submitted By: Holly Howard
posted on 9/15/2007 @ 10:53:09 AM
Rated Story
thanks for leaving this helpful column on line- I can't believe its time to put the garden to bed. Nan's advice will certainly help this year.
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Submitted By: Karen Groves
posted on 11/10/2006 @ 9:17:42 AM
Rated Story
Very interesting and helpful
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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Nan Spence

Evergreen , CO

Nan Spence has posted 15 stories and 0 comments since joining on 6/25/2006. Nan Spence 's average story rating is 5.
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