Plant Away Winter Blues, Consider Viburnums

Plant Away the Winter Blues I look forward to each day durring the winter. For some people, lamenting the past days of fall with its bright foliage in the landscape and longer, brighter days, pre-Daylight Savings Time, means they feel down when the dull, short days of winter arrive. But there's actually lots you can do around your lot ("punny," huh?) during the winter months. For me, I have grown to appreciate each day with my interests in the landscapes surrounding my farm locations. There's a satisfaction that derives from knowing that many dazzling displays, throughout the winter, can be found by careful observation. Yes, the days are short and the nights are long. And yet, growing plants, and enjoying doing so, are year-round activities that do bring unlimited hours of "quality time." One way to "get into" your plants is watering them. WINTER WATERING IS IMPORTANT. And it's simple. Make it a fundamental item on your list of things to do. Get out and check on your outside plants, enjoy being amongst your landscaping. The ground may be not at all entirely frozen so plants still use water. If the ground is not frozen you can still add water. The basic question is will the ground accept water? If yes, just remember that most plants have slowed metabolism in winter; they're dormant, not unlike hibernating bears. The amount of water must therefore be LESS than during warmer autumn or spring days, and MUCH LESS than during the hottest days of summer. Evergreens lose water through their needles in the winter. So, if you keep watering as long as possible into wintertime, from seedlings to mature trees, these plants will ALWAYS benefit. Winter drying of evergreens is a major stress factor. Surprised? IT"S TRUE. Snow and ice on your plants can be problematic. Tall thin plants are not sturdy. They tend to bend under snow loads and may require staking later to train them straight. If your small plants have a light amount of snow covering them you may ease the snow burden by lightly sweeping the snow with a broom. DON'T vigorously shake them, they are like babies ... they will get "sylvic shaken-baby syndrome." If snow or ice is frozen to a tree's branches, allow it to melt rather than attempting to force corrections. If any branches are broken, you probably don't need to do anything unless there is a split in the trunk. If the breakage of the plant is a complete severing, the seedling or liner shoud be discarded. Sometimes we just have to accept our losses. The labor time and effort to repair a completely broken trunk is not worth the value of even an exotic imported druit tree. It is also likely a poor quality seedling will be the one prone to breakage and would only become a a poor quality mature tree anyway. There is a market for such plants however, as we have had many customers who want, "Charlie Brown Trees," stunted trees for special limited space or limited height locations. Warm spells in the winter WILL occur. You've heard of the "January thaw," right? Suddenly, there are two or three days of phenomenally warm temperatures. Happily. this should not be an "isuue" for your trees, shrubs, or perennial flowers. When a warm spell occurs, get outside, use some shoe leather, and wear out those leather gloves too. It's great to have a mid-winter break, right? For grownups too, not just as enjoyed the mid-winter breaks from school. Movement and fresh air are proven to aid in combatting depression. Wintertime blues is in fact depression. Women get depressed three time more often then men, but men get it far more severely. So, GO OUT AND PREPARE YOUR LANDSCAPE FOR SPRING. You might even see some pretty winter sights while you're out there and up close which you'd surely miss if you satyed inside. Honest. If you have covering on or over your plants, you may need to provide ventilation. We normally open the doors to our greenhouses when it's warm enough. This is usually all that is necessary. If you use cold frames, their temperatures may rise so ventilation will be helpful if you have them. Close up as nightfall arrives because, DUH!, the temperature will fall rapidly. Note that when sunlight intensity is high, plant tissues become active. Water loss at this time can't be replaced if the roots are frozen. This is called "plant desiccation." If there many freeze-thaw cycles, the crown of plants can be heaved up exposing the roots. Root systems have a lower tolerance to temperature extremes and can killed by freezing low temperatures. A common way to prevent desiccation is to screen plants in exposed areas with burlap. YOU'LL HELP PREVENT PLANT DESICCATION TOO. Now, varmint control is also important in the winter. There's less food available. Mice and rabbits feed constantly. Their teeth grow constantly and they love to chew on tender plants. We spread rat and mice bait about every two to three weeks as long as we see it being consumed. Try and place your baits in a place easy to monitor, a dry place accessible only to the varmints. When the snow gets deep, mice will feed up higher on your plants. They don't like to dig in the snow for food and are light enough to walk on top of most any snow. How wonderful for them. How not do wonderful for the plants struggling to make it through the cold weather. Mice most always take the "easy road" to reach the first available food. Watch for all tracks in the snow, large or small, or even tiny. These clues to your plants' survival are important to watch for. Mouse damage usually CANNOT be corrected. You may not see root feeding damage to stock til' spring, so a little over-baiting is the best solution. Yes, DO BE CAREFUL that the baits are only available to the target varmint. When its winter, remember that VIBURNUMS are the most attractive, versatile, adaptable shrubs for any landscape. They can be used as hedges or screens and in mixed perennial/shrub borders. They can also stand alone as specimen plants. They usually take the form of shrubs, but some species can become small ornamental trees. They range in size from the Dwarf American Cranberrybush at 2 feet tall by 2 feet wide, to the Siebold Viburnum at over 15 feet tall. You can even plant one during the midst of a wintertime thaw. We feel that Viburnums are plants that have great winter interest. All viburnums have white to pink flowers in the spring. The foliage is large, attractive and often textured leaves. Some viburnums have fragrant flowers that appear in snowball shaped clusters in April. Their flower clusters can consist of pink buds, which develop into white flowers. As for the fruit of a viburnum, some are red and turn black with age. The fruit is usually bitter tasting, bit it IS colorful. Midsummer berries can be a vital food source for birds and their tastebuds aren't as demanding as ours. Viburnum leaves can be glossy, dark green in the summer and then turn a burgundy color in the fall. Viburnums have colorful red to purple leaves in November here is southeastrern Pennsylvania. Some viburnums can become medium-size trees, especially if they are pruned. Viburnums excel as specimen plants or as anchors in mixed borders. You won't find a more versatile group of shrubs for hedges or for massing in groups, since viburnums hold their own in every season, as I've described. Some viburnums, such as Prague Viburnum 'Pragense', are evergreen. Others, such as the Leatherleaf Viburnum, are semi-evergreen in colder climates, losing their leaves when temperatures dip below 10 degrees. The great feature of viburnums is that they are so adaptable. While they would like full sun and moderately watered, well-drained rich soils, they will grow very well in part shade, and in clay soils too. Diseases and pests rarely attack them and they don't tend to have to require any spraying. My kids have run over my viburnums with lawnmowers and brush hogs and the viburnums have survived. Their fibrous root system makes them transplant easily too. In your search for a good, hardy shrub with winter interest consider the Viburnum family. The ASIAN Viburnums have, in fact, long "ruled the roost" among viburnums. Viburnums have long been popular garden plants, celebrated for their white, often fragrant spring flowers to go with their summer and fall leaf colors. Perhaps the most widely appreciated viburnums are the Asian species, Burkwood Viburnum (Viburnum x burkwoodii) and the Korean Spice Viburnum (V. carlesii), both of which fill the air with a pleasant odor in mid-spring. Also popular is the Doublefile Viburnum (V. plicatum f. tomentosum), valued for its layered habit, fall foliage, and clusters of red fruit, and the Viburnum Acerifolium (Maple-leafed viburnum). Although I wouldn't garden without any of the viburnums, I have a special fondness for several of our very "gardenworthy" native viburnums. Though they may not provide the enticing flower fragrance of their Asian cousins, I love them not only for their rich fall foliage color, but also for their fruit displays. The rich fruit displays attract wildlife to my garden in the fall and then during the bleak winter months. In addition, several viburnums are useful to today's "waterwise" gardeners or for urban conditions. They require only corrective pruning, and none commonly suffer from pests or diseases. I would be hard pressed to say which viburnum I would choose if I could only have one. Viburnums are moist woodland plants. In nature, they are found along stream banks from Long Island to Florida. When you come to our 5275 West Swamp Rd. location, just northeast of Doylestown, ask us to show you some in their native habitat where we found natural, native viburnums along our stream bank. Winterthur Viburnums have great red leaves and abundant fruit in the fall. I must note, this cultivar needs a cross pollinator such as Viburnum Nudum. In conclusion, if you want some outside work that's good to do in the winter for both you and your landscape, this is when I cut back our viburnums. Pressing issues of the other seasons always seems to allow my viburnums to stand alone untouched, but they thrive nonetheless, as I have described. In midwinter, I always enjoy trimming back these plants. It is then that I see all the nests that the birds haver built and can work without disturbing their families. It seems to me that it is easier to cut back and trim viburnums now. I always feel guilty in the summer when I trim out ANY green foliage from ANY plant. Wintertime frees me from those demons. And maybe will you too. You can read more about plants at the following websites http://www.seedlingsrus.com, www.zone5trees.com, and www.highlandhillfarm.com