Which plants and how to cover the garden at the end of winter?

Winter can be a lot a serious test Our for garden plantsespecially this one: blinding sun and freezing cold. The south side of the plant will dry out and turn brown in spring – this is the result. To prevent this from happening, we can do this try to protect the plants. How to cover plants and which ones in particular should be protected?

Which plants are most affected?

In particular, plants that are not ready for this test are:

• they are not sufficiently resistant to the cold (to be verified based on the plant’s resistance zone),
• they come from warm countries,
• planted last year because they are not yet fully acclimated.

So let’s check if it is adequately covered evergreen trees and shrubs – conifers, rhododendrons, laurels, boxwoods and other plants.

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Why do we talk specifically about evergreen trees and shrubs? Compared to deciduous trees and evergreen shrubs, which lose their leaves and thus reduce the risk, their evergreen congeners during the winter Much more moisture evaporates. Why is it dangerous? Warm sun encourage in plants vital processesand pressing at night the cold can damage them. If the ground is still frozen, the plants cannot absorb water from the soil, so they suffer physiological droughts. When the sun heats up, the leaves or needles of the plant evaporate much more moisture than the roots can absorb from the soil.

From spring burns suffers more:

• rhododendrons (Rhododendron),
• boxwood (Buxus sempervirens),
• berry yews (Taxus baccata),
• western yellow-needled thuja (Western thuja).

Never it doesn’t burn in the sun plants of dwarf and horizontal varieties and their forms that overwinter under the snow. Chinese juniper also never suffers from burns (Juniperus chinensis), the spruce (Picea abies) and its varieties, the spruce (Tsuga), Ken (Abies), western thuja (Western thuja) and most of its forms.

Are conifers afraid of the cold?

Most conifers are undemanding. They are cold hardy, not particularly vulnerable to disease and pests, and do not require nutrients in the soil. However leave the thorns plant without supervisionespecially in winter, I cannot. The warm rays of the sun at the end of winter can simply burn the branches of coniferous trees, and then the needles on the sunny side turn brown and wither.

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How to cover rhododendrons in winter?

Rhododendrons, especially those growing in open areas, it should be protected from strong, dry winds. You can attach spruce branches around the bush so that they do not touch the plant. When it’s cold, rhododendrons curl their leaves, while when it’s hot the leaves spread out. In this case, when the leaves come into contact with something, this process does not occur and the plants become vulnerable to frost.

Of course, in this situation, it would be very helpful if you built it in the fall patronage of the establishment. This can be done by driving three or four stakes into the ground around the plant and attaching white plastic wrap or similar fabric to them. The top should be left open so that the plant receives all precipitation. We don’t recommend it to use polyethylene filmsbecause it does not allow air to circulate and the plant could wither and die.

From starting in Februaryand while the sun heats more and more fiercely, the plants should be covered completelyso that they are not burned by hot rays.

Let’s help the boxwoods

Frost for boxwoods (Buxus sempervirens) is not terrible if they grow in a place protected from drafts, with mulched roots. But strong winds these plants Candies Faster to finish compared to temperatures below zero. Exactly the same I don’t like for them and warm sun at the end of winter. So at the end of winter, on those that grow in the sun boxwood should be launched white agricultural coverings a piece

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If the boxwood leaves turn yellow, turn brown and fall, it is a sign that the plant has suffered a physiological drought. But don’t rush to get the shears yet. Our winters are very unpredictable, so even in March we can have both sub-zero outside temperatures and very hot weather. So continue with the pruning, leave bush management for later for time.

What and how to cover plants?

Traditionally, people protect plants from frost by using covers and fir branches. The temperature beneath the snow-covered fir trees stays above -5° C, even if the air temperature goes below -20° C. Yet, this method is only good for short plants, and it can be hard to collect enough fir trees.

So, mainly, agricultural film is used for this purpose. It has one smooth side and a side covered with thick fibers. The plants should be covered with the smooth side facing up. During the cold season, the moisture that builds up on the fibers freezes, providing good protection.

When it warms up, the agricultural film also heats up, dries quickly, and the plant can start to breathe better. It is best to use only white agricultural film because it does not soak up as much heat from the sunlight compared to black.

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Agricultural film can be secured by tying it with rope or joining its edges together. Rodents tend to avoid hiding under agricultural covers, and the conditions for fungal diseases do not develop. The plants below do not get too hot, so there is no need for ventilation.