Plant Away The Winter Blues
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 pre-Daylight savings time days,
means feeling down when the dull, short days of winter arrive.
For me, I have grown to appreciate each day with my interests in
the landscapes surrounding my farm locations. Satisfaction
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 bring
unlimited hours of "quality time."
Watering plants is simple. It can be a fundamental item on your
list of things to do. Make it a point to get out and check on
your outside plants. The ground may be not at all entirely
frozen so plants still use water. If the ground is not frozen
you can still 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, 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 the
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, we have
had many customers who want, "Charlie Brown Trees," or stunted
trees for special limited space or limited height planting
locations.
Warm spells in the winter occur. You've heard of the "January
thaw," right? Suddenly, there arte two or three days of
phenomenally warm temperatures. 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 break in mid-winter.
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 on out and prepare for spring.
If you have covering on or over your plants, you may need to
provide ventilation. We normally open the doors to our
greenhouses. This is usually all that is necessary. Cold frame
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 root are frozen. This is called plant
desiccation. Also if there many freeze-thaw cycles, the crown of
the plant will 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 .
Varmit control is important in the winter. 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
threes weeks as long as we see it being consumed. Try and place
the baits in a place where its easy to moniter, dry, and
accessable only to the varmits. When the snow gets deep mice
will feed up higher on the plants. They don't like to dig in the
snow for food. They take the easy to reach food first. Thus
tracks in the snow are an important sign to watch for. Mouse
damage is usually not correctable. You may not see root feeding
damage to stock till spring, so over baiting is the best
solution. Care should be taken that the baits are only available
to the target varmit. 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 at over 15 feet
tall.
We feel that Viburnums are plants that have great
winterinterest. 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 are produced
in snowball shaped clusters in April. Their flower clusters can
consist of pink buds, which develop into white flowers. Some
fruits are red and turn black with age usually bitter tasting.
Leaves can be glossy, dark green and turn a burgundy color in
the fall. Midsummer berries are an important food source for
birds. Viburnums have colorful red to purple leaves. 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. Some viburnums, such as Prague viburnum
'Pragense', are evergreen. Others, such as 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 adaptabe. 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. Diseases and pests rarely attack them and they don't tend
to have to be spayed. My kids have run over them with brush hogs
and they survived. Their fibrous root system makes them
transplant easily.
In your search for a good, hardy shrub with winter interest
consider the Viburnum family.
Viburnums have long been popular garden plants, celebrated for
their white, often fragrant spring flowers and their fall color.
But it's the Asian viburnums that have so far ruled the roost.
Perhaps the most widely appreciated viburnums are the Burkwood
viburnum (Viburnum x burkwoodii), and the Korean spice viburnum
(V. carlesii), both of which fill the air with a pleasant odorin
mid-spring. Also popular is the doublefile viburnum (V. plicatum
f. tomentosum), valued for its layered habit, fall foliage, and
clusters of red fruits. Viburnum acerifolium (Maple-leafed
viburnum) Although I wouldn't garden without any of these, I
have a special fondness for several of our very gardenworthy
native viburnums. They may not provide the enticing flower
fragrance of their Asian cousins, but I love them not only for
their rich fall foliage color but also for their fruit displays,
which attract wildlife to my garden in the fall and durring the
bleak winter months. In addition, several 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 hardpressed to say which viburnum I would
choose if I could only have one.
Viburnums are moist woodland plants. In nature they are found
along steam banks from Long Island to Florida. When you come to
our 5275 West Swamp Rd. location ask us to show some in their
native habitat that we found along our stream bank. These plants
perform well under normal landscape conditions. I especially
like the floral display in the spring and these viburnums that
bear fruit in the fall. Winterthur has great red leaves and
abundant fruit in the fall. This cultivar needs a cross
pollinator such as viburnum nudum. If you want things to do in
the winter this is when I cut back our viburnums. Pressing
issues of the other seasons always leaves my viburnums to stand
alone untouched. It is mid winter and I always enjoy trimming
back these plants then. 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 now for I always
feel bad in the summer when I trim out green foliage. When
trimming foliage I always guilty cutting greens off of the
plants. Wintertime frees me from those demons. You can see more
out plants at the following web site http://www.seedlingsrus.com