Spend a little time preparing trees and shrubs for winter

GardenAdmin — Sat, 25 Nov 2023 08:16:25 +0000

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The leaves are dropping off trees, and many of us are putting our gardens to bed for winter. While preparing the garden for winter, spend a little time preparing your trees and shrubs. Doing a few things this fall can help protect our trees and shrubs from winter damage.

Given the dry conditions we’ve had this year, make sure trees and shrubs have adequate water. Continue to water trees and shrubs (if we don’t get enough rain) until the ground freezes. Since temperatures are cooling and plants are using less water, they won’t need to be watered as frequently as in warmer parts of the year, maybe every other week.

Providing adequate moisture to trees and shrubs will help reduce their stress and damage from winter weather. This is especially important for newly planted trees since they are unlikely to have an extensive root system and evergreens.

Evergreens keep their leaves year-round and are more likely to suffer winter desiccation (also known as winter burn). Desiccation is caused when plants lose moisture faster than they can take it up. This will result in discolored and damaged plant leaves and tip dieback. Having well-watered trees and shrubs and adequate soil moisture can go a long way in preventing winter desiccation. Additionally, roots surrounded by moist soil are less likely to suffer cold injury compared to those in dry soils.

Protect from desiccation

In addition to adequate soil moisture, evergreens in exposed sites may benefit from additional protection to prevent winter desiccation. These plants can be wrapped loosely in burlap, or a windbreak can be constructed.

Anti-transpirants are commonly recommended to help prevent desiccation in evergreen plants. These products are wax-like materials sprayed onto plants’ leaves to slow water loss.

Before applying a product, make sure to read the label. Some products should only be used on broadleaf and needled evergreens, not on evergreens with scale-like leaf foliage such as arborvitae.

While anti-transpirants may help a little in preventing winter desiccation, they aren’t a replacement for making sure your plants are well-watered and protected if they are in exposed locations.

Mulching plants

Mulching trees and shrubs is also beneficial when preparing them for winter. Mulch will help retain soil moisture and help prevent rapid fluctuations in soil temperature.

Organic-based mulches, such as wood chips, are preferred because, in addition to the above benefits, they will also slowly break down and add nutrients to the soil.

When applying mulch, put down a 2- to 4-inch-deep layer, ideally out to the tree’s drip line. Additionally, make sure it is not piled up on the plant’s trunk (mulch should look like a donut, not a volcano). Mulch piled up against a tree trunk creates an ideal environment for diseases, insects, and rodents.

Don’t rush pruning

While cleaning up the garden, there is often a temptation to prune trees and shrubs. Don’t be in too big of a hurry, though. Pruning in late summer and fall will often encourage plants to produce new growth.

This new growth won’t have enough time to harden off before winter arrives and will be damaged or killed. The only pruning that should be done on trees and shrubs in the fall is to remove dead or damaged branches.

Otherwise, wait to do any other pruning, such as removing crossing and rubbing branches, until the trees are fully dormant (winter).

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Organic Gardening – Preparing Your Garden Soil For Planting

GardenAdmin — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 21:31:58 +0000

Soil preparation is one of the most important steps in grow a healthy and productive crop of any kind. Soil is the key to organic gardening, and the crops you grow will only be as healthy as the soil they are grown in.

The first step in preparing any soil is to know what you are working with – clay, loam, sand, silt, or a combination of one or more of these types of soil. Doing a simple jar test at home or having your soil tested by a local Cooperative Extension is the only way you will know what you are dealing with. Cooperative Extension Services normally will advise you on how to improve your soil once they test it.

Once the ground can be worked in the early spring, loosen a small area of your garden to a depth of about 8 – 10 inches to check the moisture content of the soil – this can simply be done with a shovel or spading fork. If the soil is saturated with moisture from either snow melt or rain, it is too wet for working. A simple test is to take a handful of soil and squeeze it into a ball. If the ball of soil can be easily be broken by a gentle poke of your index finger, it is dry enough to be worked. Once you have thoroughly worked the soil, it should be loose and free of clumps.

If you are starting a garden in an area that previously was a lawn or turf areas, remove any clumps of sod and put them in your compost area, or turn them over and expose their root system toward the sun to dry out. This will help prevent any grass areas from taking over your garden.

Plant life and seeds both need oxygen to survive, and the only way they can get this is with a soil that has a healthy structure. A good soil structure is one that will retain moisture and nutrients, and drain well at the same time. Amending soil with organic matter will greatly improve the structure, and create an environment that will greatly benefit the microorganisms that live under the surface of your garden. This all needs to be attended to before you start any type of planting; once seeds or any type of plant life has been planted in your garden, there is little you can do to improve the soil structure.

If your garden soil is like most gardens, less than perfect, you need to improve it. The healthier the soil is in your garden, the healthier the crops will be that you are growing. Organic matter is the key to improving an organic gardens soil structure, compost being the ideal choice. When organic matter is added to a sandy soil, it acts like a glue to hold the soil particles together, and when added to a clay soil, it works just the opposite. With clay soil, organic matter gets between soil particles and loosens the soil to allow air and water to reach the root systems of plants. Any time there are no crops growing in your garden is the ideal time to amend the soil with organic matter, it doesn’t matter what time of the year or season it is.

One of the most overlooked parts of a soil is the pH level. This is the degree of acidity or alkalinity of the soil. This is a simple test that can be done yourself with a test kit that can be purchased at most garden center. Once you have the results of the test, it will indicate the present level of pH. If the results show levels that are out of an acceptable range for the crops you are growing, the addition of lime or sulfur will bring the soil into the proper range for growing your crops. Lime will neutralize the soils pH, and sulfur will make it more acidic.

A environment friendly and healthy way of gardening. Organic Gardening is away of gardening in harmony with nature. Growing a healthy and productive crop in a way that is healthier for both you and the environment [http://www.organicheirloomgardening.com/waterandsoil.html].

John Yazo

[http://www.organicheirloomgardening.com]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Yazo

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Spend a little time preparing trees and shrubs for winter

Organic Gardening – Preparing Your Garden Soil For Planting