The practice of protecting plants is not new. Over the years, many reliable methods have been devised.
New materials are lending the gardener still other weapons in his fight against Old Man Winter.
Factors of Winter Injury
Many factors cause winter injury. First in importance is the loss of moisture from any part of the plant.
Hoots suffer if not watered during a seasonal drought and, if allowed to go through winter in dry conditions, cannot supply moisture to the plant.
Stems and branches die back from drying winds, especially with bright sunshine in February and March.
Extra watering of evergreens in the fall is extremely important. The best gardener I know protects quantities of handsome English boxwood with nothing more than a thorough soaking late in the fall of the year. It is important, however, not to saturate the soil just before a freeze.
A second factor is the climate. Our garden plants come from many parts of the world, but we try not only to make them live but to flourish and flower in their new environment.
An example is a comparatively recent increase in interest in hardy camellias, both sasanqua and japonica types.
To protect broad-leaved evergreens of this sort, stand evergreen boughs upright about them, with the tops tied together for support and to give the foliage filtered light.
Without this protection, the sun shining on the leaves will cause cells to function (luring warm spells, thus resulting in loss of moisture, which the dormant roots cannot replace. Eventually, the leaves will drop off.
Mulching
Mulch is highly beneficial to protect the shallow roots of rhododendrons, azaleas, and other shrubs.
Apply oak leaves, pine needles, or peat moss after the first hard freeze to prevent alternate freezing and thawing, which breaks or exposes the roots. Keep mulches away from shrub stems because of bark damage by rodents.
Hock plants need mulching, too. Gray stone chips and coarse gravel supply good protection. They anchor loosely-rooted plants and, at the same time, prevent water from standing around the crowns of lower varieties.
Chopped oak leaves and peat moss are excellent mulches for low-growing rhododendrons and heaths.
Winter covers are especially important in climates where there is little snow. They provide substitutes for the natural winter blanket of snow common to many areas.
Avoid Excessive Nitrogen
Most of us could plan garden practices better than we do. Winter injury may arise from too much of one ingredient or not enough of another.
Excessive nitrogen feeding or using it too late in summer may cause late soft growth, which is easily killed by an early freeze.
If heavy and practiced in late summer, pruning may stimulate growth with soft tips that winter kill.
Awkward and unattractive windbreaks and burlap covers are being replaced by a new transparent plastic spray film, so thin that it is not noticed.
Supply unseen protection is a boon to the esthetic side of the garden, for it means the rich green foliage is protected from wind and sun scale yet can be seen throughout the winter.
This synthetic latex can be bought in four-ounce squeeze bottle sizes as well as larger containers. Regular spray equipment may be used to apply it if it is washed out directly after with a detergent.
Protection For Upright Evergreens
Probably the best protection for upright evergreens, such as arborvitae, Irish yew, and junipers, including red cedar, is an 18-inch chicken wire wound spirally around the plant to prevent heavy snow or sleet from opening up the center and breaking branches.
A strong cord may be used, but this has to be wound more tightly, which, unfortunately, causes damage by preventing air circulation, so it is necessary to keep the evergreens inside dry.
Use polyethylene plastic in place of untidy old baskets, boxes, and pieces of burlap. Lath frames overspread with polyethylene sheets make good winter covers for cold frames and propagating boxes.
Evergreen boughs laid lightly on the perennial bed will hold leaves and snow, thereby maintaining a more even temperature through the winter.
Protecting Valuable Trees
Valuable trees can be protected from frost cracking by spiraling double kraft paper up the trunk.
Fasten it just under the lowest branch with twine. This prevents the warm, late winter sun from starting cell activity in the trunk.
Such activity, followed by a rapid temperature drop, causes sap within the cells to freeze, creating such pressure that a vertical crack occurs.
Small trees need stakes for support against the whipping of the winds. For protection against mice or other rodents, wrap ½-inch meshed wire about two feet high around tree trunks.
If roots are properly mulched with straw or similar material and slender trunks and branches sprayed with synthetic latex and securely tied to stakes, they should survive the winter in top shape.
44659 by Lois Woodward Paul