Why FALL Planting?

Experienced gardeners prefer fall planting. Not for all plants, but for a great many that the beginner seldom thinks of setting out except in spring.

Unless you are in a very cold section of the country, roses planted in fall take hold better than do spring-set bushes. So do most fruit trees and bushes, other deciduous trees and shrubs and many evergreens. The majority of hardy perennials, too, respond best when moved in autumn rather than in spring.

Fall planting is advantageous to the gardener too. Over most of North America spring is short, its days all too crowded.

Despite carefully made plans and the best intentions, it is usually physically impossible to accomplish all the planting and other work that needs doing. This is true if you do the work yourself; it is so if you hire professional help.

 In the mad rush of spring, skilled Gardeners and nurserymen seem to be almost as scarce as the proverbial hen’s tooth, and if you succeed in corralling one (or more), chances are he will be so rushed that your planting may be done less carefully than had you employed him at a more leisurely season.

But plantwise, why is fall the best time to set out most material? The first point to recognize is that the operation we call planting is actually transplanting. It consists of moving a living plant from one place to another in such a fashion that it will become reestablished.

Such transplanting is an artificial disturbance. In nature it occurs rarely, as when a tornado or swollen stream rips a plant from its anchorage and sets it some place else, where it takes root. But these are freak accidents. Plants usually spend their entire lives in the place where nature propagated them.

Transplanting is analogous to an operation on a human being. Parts of the body are cut away, the physiological processes disturbed. Common sense dictates that an operation should he done at a time most favorable to the patient, at the beginning of a period when recuperation is likely to take place most rapidly and when no undue demands are expected to be made upon the patient’s energies. For most plants, fall meets these conditions best.

Let’s examine the reasons why this is so. The above-ground parts of a plant depend upon the roots for water and nutrients, and to find them, roots often travel much greater distances than ordinarily supposed. A lowly perennial may send some of its feeders down 2, 3 or even more feet, and the spread of these feeders almost invariably far exceeds that of the foliage. In the case of trees and shrubs, too, the underground parts usually occupy more space then the stems and leaves.

It follows that no matter how carefully transplanting is done, some roots are cut off and the plant’s ability to supply its stems and leaves with water and nutrients is temporarily reduced. In fall, with its shorter days, lower temperatures, less intense sunshine and in many cases normal loss of foliage, the demands for water and nutrients made by the tops of hardy plants are at a near minimum and decrease as day follows day. This is a significant factor.

Roots of fall transplants are able to continue growth long after top growth has ceased, because the ground beneath remains warm and moist even after the upper inch or two is frozen. Therefore, new roots, generate readily from the cut and broken ends of transplants, enabling them to rapidly re-establish their root systems.

Contrast this with conditions that prevail in spring. Then all factors that favor vigorous top growth (with its resulting heavier demands upon the roots) are at work. Days are lengthening, the sun strengthening. Winds are stealing water from every stem and leaf. And as the leaves increase in size and number, the demand for water and nutrients increases correspondingly.

Are there any disadvantages to fall planting? Yes, in some cases there’s danger of winterkilling. Winter is the crucial period for plants on the border-line of hardiness in any given locality, plants which are so close to being tender and winterkilled anyway that the root disturbance tips the balance against them.

For such plants spring transplanting is safer, because in order to survive the winter, these borderline plants need a fully established root system. Planted in spring, they have a whole growing season in which to re-root before being called upon to face the rigors of winter.

Transplanting done too late for the particular plant type may also result in winterkilling. In such cases there simply is not sufficient time for adequate rooting before the under soil becomes too cold.

Then, too, heaving (soil movement due to alternate freezing and thawing) can tear and break roots, and with smallish items, such as rock garden plants and perennials, this may cause so much damage that serious harm or death results. However, precautions can be taken to minimize this danger.

On the negative side, one other factor must be taken into account. Experience has proved that a few plants transplant better in spring (preferably late spring) than in fall. These include some subjects with more or less fleshy roots, such as magnolias and beeches. If you have any doubts about a particular plant, check with an experienced gardener.

The actual operation of transplanting is the same whether done in fall or spring. Only the details of after care differ. Regardless of season, the soil must be deeply and thoroughly prepared and should be in a crumbly rather than pasty condition.

Preparation ordinarily involves loosening the earth to a depth of 10 inches or more, mixing in a generous amount of organic matter (compost, leafmold, rotted manure, peatmoss or commercial humus) and some fertilizer.

In fall, use only slowly available fertilizers such as coarse bonemeal, pulverized sheep manure or prepared mixtures that have much of their nitrogen content in organic form. The quickly soluble, rapid-acting kinds are more advantageous in spring, for these serve chiefly to stimulate leaf growth, which is not of immediate importance in fall. For certain plants, some soils will need liming. And in some cases, the use of a synthetic soil conditioner may be advisable.

The details of preparing the soil depend upon the particular plants to be set out. In any case, see that the preparation is thorough and, if possible, have it completed well in advance of planting. This gives the earth time to settle somewhat and makes firm planting at the right depth easier.

If you must plant before the soil has settled sufficiently by itself, either tread it until moderately firm (while it is dry enough not to stick to the shoes) or give it a thorough soaking with the hose and then allow it to dry. Either treatment will settle it enough for planting.

The old admonition that it’s better to put a 10-cent plant in a dollar hole than a dollar plant in a 10-cent hole still holds. For every plant you install, make a hole sufficiently large to easily accommodate the ball of roots without crowding and to permit you to pack a liberal amount of good soil around the old roots to encourage growth of new ones.

This is especially important with trees, shrubs and evergreens planted where the entire surrounding soil is not specially prepared, as it usually is with herbaceous plants and closely set shrubs. For a moderate-sized shrub or tree, the role should be at least 2 feet wider than the spread of the roots… more if the soil is poorand more when big specimens are being moved.

One of the great advantages of fall planting is that purchased nursery stock is then newly dug. It has not been wintered in a nursery cellar or storage shed as have most spring-sold plants.

Take care when planting not to let the roots become dry. If the specimens are moved with a ball of soil, as evergreens always should be and larger trees and shrubs often are, be sure, not to break it.

Spread the roots of plants that are moved without a soil ball in the directions in which they run naturally and work good soil between them. Set the plants at the same depth or only very slightly deeper than they were previously. Firm the soil well, but do not ram it until it is as hard as a road. Unless rain is imminent, soak the soil immediately after planting and keep well watered.

Secure fall-planted trees firmly to stakes or guy wires to prevent winter storms from loosening or toppling them over. Deciduous shrubs rarely need staking, but it is often good to prune back or thin out some of the branches. Evergreens (both shrubs and trees) will appreciate a burlap screen if they are exposed to wind or strong winter sun.

Very important, too, is the subject of winter protection. For most plants, a mulch 1 or 2 inches deep (3 or 4 inches for evergreens) spread over the ground after it has frozen will delay frost penetration to greater depths and enable roots to grow for a longer period. A mulch will also reduce heaving.

Suitable materials are coarse compost, half-rotted leaves, manure, straw and peat-moss. A mulch of this type, however, is not practicable for ground-hugging plants such as strawberries and many rock garden subjects, which require a light covering of salt hay or evergreen branches. Perennials, too, prefer the latter type mulch.

Roses require a little different kind of winter protection. After the top inch of earth has frozen, bill the soil high around the bases of the stems to protect the lower buds, and fill the hollows between the hills with loose manure or some other mulch material.

Let’s take a look now at the best fall planting times for the different plant types. Evergreens should go in first. These have to support a crop of leaves all winter and so need plenty of time to develop ample roots. Deciduous trees and shrubs, excepting those few kinds that move better in spring, may be safely planted considerably later than evergreens. Put them in any time between the start of natural leaf fall and the first hard ground freeze.

Roses should be planted as soon as obtainable, and planting may continue until frost makes it impracticable. Perennials and biennials should be planted as soon as possible after the first killing frost to enable them to root well before the soil freezes.

Planting In Autumn

More Tips For Fall Gardening

How To Naturalize Spring-Flowering Bulbs

Of these, only spring-blooming bulbs absolutely must be planted in fall. This “now or never” push makes fall bulb planting an annual tradition in many households, where spending an hour or two each fall can reap colorful spring time bulbs.

Fall Work Makes Spring Planting Easier

Crisp autumn days make you want to drink hot chocolate and sit by a warming fire. I’ll join you, but first we have a few things to do to be ready for spring gardening. (Did you really think I was done giving you things to do?)

5 Tips for Fall Gardening

If you’re ready to take the organic gardening plunge, we have some great tips for you from the experts at Bonnie Plants, a green-gardening wholesaler in Union Springs, AL: Don’t be intimidated.

Fall Gardening Tasks

Pruning chores are easier in fall as the leaves drop. But be certain to only prune away dead or diseased wood – if you prune healthy wood, it will spur new growth that will become damaged by winter cold.

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Here are some of my favorite flower gardening books and resources that can help any gardener grow bigger, brighter and more beautiful plants. I will be adding to this regularly and if you have any favorite resources you would like to share with your fellow gardening enthusiasts please let us know!

Rose Secrets Revealed:

This is a splendid little resource chock full of great rose growing tips. You will discover how to grow stunningly beautiful and fragrant roses.  Visit here for some free tips to get you started today.

The Complete Grape Growing System:

Ever wanted to grow your own grapes? This great little guide gives a complete step-by-step system for growing stunning and productive grapes in your own backyard. Includes lot of easy-to-follow, detailed diagrams and even videos that show you what to do. Visit here to learn the secrets for growing big and juicy grapes. 

Technorati Tags: book, books, flower, food, gardener, gardening, grape, growing, hydroponic, orchid, organic, resources, rose, tomato, tomatoes

The Flowering Ornamental Dogwood 

If there is one American plant truly deserving of recommendation for ornamental use over a greater part of the United States, it is the flowering dogwood.

Commonly distributed in the woodlands over half the country at least, Cornus florida has been a highly valued ornamental since colonial times, and justly so.

One can seldom go wrong when giving flower gardening advice in recommending this dogwood for planting on the home grounds, especially where acid to neutral soils prevail and long summer droughts do not govern the selection of plants. Fortunately, it is available from most nurseries.

Everyone is familiar with its white flower bracts, four of which together are thought of as a "flower." Actually the true, minute, yellow flowers are bunched in the center formed by these four bracts.

It is these true flowers which bear the bright red fruits in the fall that are so colorful and most attractive to the birds.

Native in the East from Florida to southern New Hampshire and Maine, and as far west as Ontario, to Texas and even Mexico, the flowering dogwood has made many ardent friends over the years. Old trees may be as much as 40 feet tall, and nearly a century old, but usually they are considerably lower than this and younger as well.

The flowers appear in midspring, and because the plant is so widely distributed it is an excellent "indicator" of just when midspring occurs in a specific area.

In the fall, the resplendent brilliant scarlet color makes this tree one of the best native or exotic trees for fall  display. It should be planted in full sun to produce its best fall color, for shaded trees are not nearly as colorful.

This is one of the reasons why we appreciate so much those trees which just happen to have grown on the edge of the woodlands, for they flower, fruit and color in the fall far better than they do in shady situations.

The bright red berries are about the size and shape of grains of puffed wheat, usually about five to twelve in number. They are really small nutlets surrounded with pulp. They turn red before the leaves become scarlet so that there is an excellent red-green color combination earlier in the fall. Birds are fond of the fruits and it is undoubtedly because of this that the tree has been so widely distributed in the woodlands of North America.

The branches grow in a horizontal plane which makes the tree definitely flat topped… an important characteristic. Older branches begin to droop a bit as they become heavier, thus displaying the upper side where the flowers are produced. This branching habit is not only of interest during the growing season but all winter long as well.

Most trees have an upright branching habit so those with horizontal branches like the dogwood are greatly needed for variation in the landscape, especially during the long winter months when all deciduous trees are bare of foliage.

There are several varieties of dogwood. The pink or red flowering form is the most popular for its large colored flower bracts are most beautiful in the spring. In its extreme northern range, this pink variety has proved slightly less hardy than the white flowered type.

Other varieties available from only a few nurseries would include the double-flowered form plena, the pendulous branching pendula and the yellow fruited xanthocarpa. To most people, none of these forms is as beautiful as this species.

If one carefully observes a large number of trees in flower, it soon becomes evident that the flowers vary in size, some being merely 2 inches from the tip of one bract to the tip of another, others being as much as 6.5 inches. Actually, the small-flowered types are just as beautiful as the very large-flowered forms, and to many of us even more so.

The dogwood is easily propagated by cuttings, grafting or seeds. Each seed usually contains two embryos, each one capable of producing a plant. The seed should be stratified for three to four months at about 41 degrees, otherwise it may take two years to germinate.

Grafting out-of-doors is simple and easy, especially if one is trying to "make over" the species with scions from one of the varieties. Wrapping such grafts in polyethylene film for a few weeks may help, but we at Flower Gardening Tips have had excellent success merely by grafting in early spring, when the tree is dormant and coating the grafted union with wax. Homeowners can quickly learn the technique of outdoor grafting on dogwood since it is so easily done.

On the West Coast, Cornus florida is represented by a first cousin, Cornus muttalli, which is taller (up to 75 feet) and has six bracts which gradually turn a pinkish color even though they first appear pure white. This tree, which blooms a little earlier in the spring, cannot be grown in the East and is recommended only for growing on the Pacific Coast where it is just as popular and colorful as is Cornus florida in the East.

Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, well-known for the historic battle fought there during the Revolutionary War, has become famous for the thousands of flowering dogwoods that have been planted there as a living memorial. Other towns and even highway departments have planted them in large numbers.

It is not exactly pest-free, for borers sometimes do attack the trunk and there is a canker disease which may trouble a few transplanted trees. However, the flowering dogwood is a tree of remarkable beauty every season of the year… something that cannot be said of many woody plants being grown in our gardens today.

The Pacific Dogwood

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Growing Orchids Is So Easy! 

I had always believed that to grow orchids would be exceedingly difficult… tender, delicate and temperamental… and so expensive as to be entirely out of reach of the average person. But I have learned that none of these things are true. Orchids are within the means of any of us. There are reasonably priced plants as well as expensive ones, and because the plants remain handsome and increase in size from year to year they are an investment that brings thrilling dividends. This article is about orchid flower gardening made easy.

As for their reputed delicacy, the fact is orchids are remarkably tough and hardy. Indeed. they are freer from disease than any other plant I can think of. The chief requirement to grow orchids is to learn the conditions under which they thrive in their native haunts and to approach those conditions as closely as possible in the home or greenhouse.

Perhaps the most important condition is proper light. Orchids, like African violets, want light but not glaring sun, in other words, filtered sunlight. Keep in mind that their native habitat is jungle "rain forests," where dense tropical vegetation allows only filtered sunlight to penetrate. Try growing an orchid plant next to your African violet in a window with a north or east exposure and watch it grow! But if you must use a window where the sunlight is too strong filter the sun with Venetian blinds or place the plant so that it receives maximum light but not direct sun.

In the greenhouse, the glare of full sun can be cut by the use of roller blinds or by painting shading on the outside of the glass, especially on south and west sides. I simply use a light coat of white enamel paint, then stipple it with a sponge.

Second only in importance to light is humidity. In tropical jungles, the air is very humid, so it follows that moisture in the air is a necessity. The why of this is readily seen. Orchids are epiphytes, usually growing upon logs or stumps (epi means above or on, phite means plant). Their roots are mostly aerial, and they take their nourishment mainly from the moisture in the air (possibly also from minerals in the decaying humus with which their roots come in contact, although they are not parasites, as is often thought).

In the greenhouse, humidity is achieved by hosing the floor and benches in the morning, at noon and in midafternoon. As this moisture evaporates into the air, it creates the needed humidity. In my own greenhouse, I have a small automatic humidity system, geared to an adjustable temperature dial, which throws a fine mist spray under the benches when the temperature reaches a certain point. This is a tremendous help, because I am away all day and can’t do the sprinkling needed in hot dry weather. More sprinkling, of course, is needed on hot, dry days than on dull, cloudy ones.

Another humidity aid in the greenhouse is to place pans of water on the floor, particularly in front of or on top of the heater. I keep a pan of water directly in front of my electric heater, and the amount of evaporation from this pan is surprising.

If you grow orchids in the home, you can achieve humidity by placing the orchid pot in a saucer of gravel and keeping the gravel moist. But do not allow the water to touch the pot, for orchids must not be set in water or allowed to become soggy. Good drainage is essential. Pot watering of orchid plants is needed only about once a week.

Doesn’t orchid growing sound unbelievably simple? It is! If you have windows in your home that afford good light and the night temperature doesn’t fall below 58 degrees, you can grow orchids just as easily as you can grow African violets.

Having been an iris grower for several years, I’m interested to note the similarity in structure between orchids and iris. Like iris, orchids have rhizomes, and the buds come up through the stems in similar manner. An interesting feature about orchids, however is that they have thickened stems called pseudo-bulbs, which are storage places for food and moisture for use during dry seasons in the Jungle.

Another surprise to those unfamiliar with orchids is the fact that they are not grown in soil. Remember that in the jungles they grow on trees or stumps, not on the ground. The potting medium for most orchids is osmunda fiber (roots of tropical ferns). This is a coarse material and very porous, so that water drains right through it. From this osmunda fiber and from the air, the roots of orchids derive the nourishment they need.

Some orchid families, however, require compost with the osmunda. These are called terrestrial or semi-terrestrial orchids. The compost is usually a mixture of sphagnum moss and a form of leaf mold. A well-known terrestrial orchid is the cypripedium or lady-slipper. Many of you are undoubtedly familiar with the hardy form of lady-slipper which grows wild in the woods of many regions.

In selecting your first orchid plants we need to follow some flower gardening basics, choose species whose requirements of light, heat, etc., are similar so that they will do well together. Some orchids require cooler conditions than others, some more shade, etc. So unless you have facilities ‘to suit varying types, it’s best to choose orchids requiring similar conditions, In my greenhouse are cattleyas, epidendrums and oncidiums, all of which have like tastes. My greenhouse is an intermediate house with the night temperature ranging from 58 to 63 degrees, the daytime temperature from 60 up into the 70’s. A small Humidial indicates both temperature and relative humidity. To grow orchids, the humidity should be about 80 per cent of the temperature, and a dial of this sort makes it easy to keep check on this.

The cattleya is generally looked upon as the monarch of orchids. Its bloom is the most gorgeous extravagantly beautiful achievement of the flower world. In color, cattleya blooms range from pure white through lavender shades to deep old rose. There’s also a golden species with velvety red lip known as C. dowiana aurea, from which many gorgeous yellow hybrids have been produced.

My first cattleya to bloom was Cattleya mossiae, an exquisite, ruffled flower of opalescent lavender blotched on the lip with magenta. It came into bloom in April and stayed perfect for more than a month. Cattleya labiata is now in bloom in my greenhouse, and it is said that it often blooms in both spring and fall. It is a luminous rose with Violet lip and orange spots in a yellow throat. In growth, this plant is outdistancing everything else in my greenhouse!

Cattleya gaskelliana, purple violet touched with white, is another popular species that usually blooms in early June. There are many more Cattleya species as well as countless striking hybrids in all colors.

Closely related to the cattleyas are the laelias, gorgeous in color and native to Mexico, Guatemala and Brazil. They have been crossed with cattleyas to produce the brilliant hybrids known as laelio-cattleyas. I have Laelia anceps, a winter-blooming species shaded purple, pink, white and yellow.

The epidendrum is another popular orchid which does well under the same conditions as laelias and cattleyas. The color range is wide, and many have a delightful fragrance. However, the blooms are smaller than those of cattleyas.

I have several species: Epidendrum atropurpureum, mahogany and green, which is spring and summer blooming; E. aurantiacum, red-orange and winter-blooming; E. cochleatum triandrum, the black orchid, a Florida native and near year-round bloomer; and E. fragrans, creamy white and summer and fall blooming. These are just a few, but they give a glimpse of the diversity of this charming family.

The oncidium is another orchid that does well with the above-mentioned types. In describing it, I couldn’t do better than to quote from Rebecca Northern’s book "Home Orchid Growing": ". . . Nature seems to have caught dancing rays of light, flickering patterns of sun and shadow, little fairy forms not seen by man, and made them into friendly, whimsical, thoroughly delightful little flowers."

There are some 300 species of oncidiums, and their native habitat ranges from Florida and the West Indies down to Brazil. I have four species: Oncidium cavendishianum, yellow red-spotted flowers, spring blooming; O. bicallosum, yellow shaded brown-green, winter blooming; 0, leucochilum, yellow-green marked with dark brown, blooming variably; and 0. varicosum rogersi, yellow marked with red-brown, winter-blooming.

This has been but a bird’s eye glimpse into an orchid world of vast diversity and endless beauty, a world inhabited by some 15,000 known species and probably vast numbers still undiscovered in jungles. But I hope this glimpse has opened your eyes to the tremendous adventure that can be yours if you will but give a try to grow orchids.

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Fall Flower And Gardening Checklist – Part 3

Before we wrap up this Fall Gardening Checklist series we wanted to give you a few more valuable and important tips. These are things you should also be preparing to take care of during the autumn and before the cold arrives.
 
VEGETABLE STORAGE
Beets, carrots, parsnips, potatoes (late) must be stored in a cool place. All except the potatoes could stay outdoors for a longer time by ridging soil over the rows in the garden. Other means of storage are pits dug in the ground and the vegetables covered with boards and hay. For small lots bushel baskets, or boxes submerged in the ground will do. Celery can be kept by covering with soil in the row. Cabbage is best dug and put in a cold cellar or pit.

Eggplant, peppers, and pumpkins must be stored where the temperature is mild. Tomatoes picked before frost and individually wrapped in newspaper will ripen in 2 weeks.

Radishes, lettuce, endive and other greens can be carried along in the garden for some time by covering each evening with cardboard, burlap, or the more enduring plastic sheeting.

COMPOST AND HUMUS
All but diseased and insect-infested material can be composted. Burn all questionable material.

Leaves can be put in a separate heap if there is space, or all materials mixed in one pile.

Begin with a bottom layer of coarse leaves, corn stalks, or dried stems. Next spread layer of the mixed materials 6 inches deep. Sprinkle a pound or more of any fertilizer, compost activator, or dried cow or chicken manure over 4×5 foot surface, then a thin layer of soil. Wet thoroughly.

Repeat layer by layer to build the pile. A 5 foot height is enough. The pile can be as long as desired. Keep the width to 6 feet. Mulching attachments for power tools are handy for fall work.

The humus supply in the soil is increased too, by sowing rye, or rye grass seed on areas left vacant by removal of crops in the garden. Three pounds per 1,000 square feet is ample. Rake the seed in, as in lawn making. Rolling is not necessary.

SOIL IMPROVEMENT
Before hard frost threatens, dig the soil and leave rough over winter. Where manure or compost is available, spread and dig in. Stiff soil is especially benefited. If soil needs lime, this is applied as ground, or pulverized limestone, 3 pounds per 100 square feet. It is merely spread over the surface after digging.

Soil on sloping ground must be covered to prevent washing. A cover crop of rye, a layer of compost, leaves, hay or the like will prevent erosion. Fall is a good time to dig in soil conditioners.

PROTECTION
In winter protection of outdoor hardy and semi-hardy plants, no covering is applied until all growth has ceased. Growth is ended by frost which opens tissue and prepares the plants for winter. Roses can be covered after several frosts, by mounding the soil up and around the base of the stems. Not all northern rose growers agree on covering, but I prefer it. The pink spirea (caryopteris), shrubs like the crape myrtle of the South, and those of similar tenderness are also covered.

The stems are tied loosely together with soft twine or burlap strips and wrapped with burlap. Where winters are severe, hay is used inside first, then burlap, or chicken wire surrounding the shrub. Fill with dry leaves and top with a piece of canvas. An inverted bushel basket stuffed with leaves is the best for low plants.

Climbing roses are protected where the winter temperatures go below zero. The stems are taken down from their sup-ports, tied together, laid on the ground and covered with 3 inches of soil.

It’s a practice in extremely cold sections to loosen the roots on one side and tip the whole plant over into a trench. No bending can be done when the stems are frozen. They will snap off. So do it early. Pansies and English daisies are covered with marsh (salt) hay.

EVERGREENS
These are protected in a different way and for a different reason. Exposed to winds, the leaves dry out, especially if the roots are in frozen soil. Protection consists in covering the root area with a mulch of leaves, and using a wind barrier of some sort. Burlap attached to stakes, branches of pines pushed into the ground, or smaller ones tied to several stems of the plants serve to break the wind.

PERENNIAL PROTECTION
Last to be covered are strawberries, hardy perennials, and rock garden plants. This is best done when ground is frozen. Covered while still soft, the plants will rot.

Soft crowned plants: delphinium, columbine, liatris, anchusa, are best covered with a cone of coal ashes, or 3 parts of soil mixed with one part of sand.

Others are covered with a light layer of marsh hay held in place with light twiggy branches. Provision must be made for water to drain off and not collect around the plants in prolonged wet weather.

Beds of spring flowering bulbs must also wait until they are thoroughly frozen before being covered else mice may harbor there for the winter.

SNOW PROTECTION
Bushy evergreens are, in regions of heavy snows, prone to injury when deep snow collects in the interior splitting them apart. Strips of burlap wound spirally around will give some protection. Tying the stems to each other in the interior is still better.

TREE PROTECTION
The stems of fruit trees, especially those newly planted, are in danger of having the bark peeled off by rabbits and mice during winter. Surround these with a band of close meshed chicken wire 2 feet high. Newly planted shade and flowering tree stems are wrapped with burlap strips, or the special craft paper used by tree men. This is protection against frost injury and the action of freezing winds.

Be prepared and ready to go with your fall flower gardening protection plans. You will be thankful you did come next spring!

How To Protect Plants From Frost & Bugs

More Fall Flower Garden Protection Tips

Mulching: Spread Organic Materials In Fall To Protect Plants

Mulching: Spread Organic Materials In Fall To Protect Plants, Improve Soil. Mulching is the simplest and most advantageous thing you can do for your garden. And it needn’t be pricey — whatever of the prizewinning mulching materials. Leaves: Collect leaves in the fall. Chop with a lawnmower or shredder.

How to Protect Plants in the Winter: Tips for Protecting Plants

Wrapping Plants in Cloth Will Also Help Protect Them During the Winter. Using old blankets, burlap sacks, sheets, towels or other thick fabric will help to protect tender plants from frosts and high winds.

How To Protect Perennials And Roses For Winter

But the sun will get lower on the horizon and the leaves will turn red and fall from the trees. Winter is inevitable. It’s time to plan and prepare before that first frost. Protect. Gardens need protection in the winter. In the north, the snow cover acts as a thermal blanket. But it isn’t the cold that kills the plant or shrub. It’s the drying winds and the freezing and thawing.

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