Preventing Winter Damage to Your Trees and Shrubs

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The trees and shrubs in your yard are similar to people. We both require a certain amount of water, nutrients, and rest to remain healthy and productive. While people require these elements on a daily basis, plants are more seasonal. For example, they sleep each winter instead of daily at night. This dormancy period is just as important to their health as a good night’s sleep is to ours.

Cold isn’t the worst challenge faced by our plants. Shrubs and trees hardy to our region can endure our normal winter temperatures with little trouble. Here is why they need winterizing to help them through their dormancy:

  • Cold spells that appear before trees and shrubs have had a chance to harden off for the winter can damage plant tissues.
  • Midwinter thaws can send the wrong message to plants, fooling them into coming out of their dormancy too soon only to be damaged when it turns cold again.
  • Bark that warms up during the bright sunlight of day can quickly freeze and crack when temperatures drop after dark.
  • Deer, mice, and other animals gnaw leaves, bark, and twig as their winter food becomes scarce.
  • Frozen soil makes it difficult for trees and shrubs to take up enough water.

Best Ways to Help Your Shrubs and Trees through Winter:

  • Don’t prune shrubs past mid-summer because it stimulates new growth which delays dormancy.
  • Water plants throughout the fall months (until the ground freezes) so they have adequate moisture to see them through the winter.
  • Protect the root system of any young or small plantings by spreading a layer of mulch, straw, or compost to insulate them.
  • Wrapping the trunks of young trees up to their first branches helps several challenges – It keeps the trunk warm during temperature fluctuations and keeps critters from chewing on them. Leave wraps on until the last frost has passed.
  • Wrap delicate shrubs such a rhododendron with burlap to protect them from wind.

Make this the year you properly and lovingly tuck your landscape into bed for a long winter’s sleep. They’ll be sure to show their gratitude when spring returns.

 

 

 

Bringing Herbs in for the Winter

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Just because it’s getting cooler outside doesn’t mean gardening has to end, especially if you love to grow herbs. Bring your herbs indoors so you can continue to enjoy them through the winter months.

Rosemary, lemongrass, ginger and verbena are tender perennials, but need protection from freezing temperatures to survive. But hardier herbs like thyme, lavender, sage, and tarragon can be grown indoors, as well. It’s also an effective way to divide your herbs that grow in clumps.

It’s wonderful to be able to experience their fresh flavors and scents all winter long and potting them is so easy to do. Here’s how:

  1. Select containers that are wide and deep enough to accommodate each herb’s root ball plus a little extra for growth.
  2. Put a layer of potting soil into each pot.
  3. Place your herb on top of it.
  4. Fill in all around the herb with more potting mix.
  5. Press down the potting mix, leaving about an inch of space between the mix and the top rim of the pot.
  6. Water them thoroughly.

You can also make arrangements that place several herbs in one pot. 

Newly transplanted herbs will need a bit of time to acclimate and may even drop some leaves. While they are in this state, keep them in indirect light. Once they pick up, you can increase in increments, the amount and time of bright sunlight they get. Herbs like a lot of light so southern-facing windows are best. If you don’t have enough sunlight, you can buy a grow light.

To maintain herbs indoors, turn them periodically so all sides get to face the light. Then you can snip spring whenever you cook your favorite recipes. If you want, you can bring them back outside once spring arrives.

Your Landscape Hard at Work in Winter

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Many believe their landscaping is asleep in winter, simply waiting for conditions to send plants a signal that spring is at hand. After all, the lawn has stopped growing and all the leaves are gone. The coming of winter does bring about a period of dormancy in your yard, but out of view, much is taking place.

Dormancy is much more than a period of suspended animation. During this time, plants have put in place an important survival mechanism to help them gear up for the warmer weather ahead.

Many plants will not flower in spring without first being chilled by winter. This is true of cherry trees, for example. Some garden vegetables are also in this category but we rarely see the flowers because we harvest the vegetable in fall. Carrots, beets, and cabbage are among these veggies. If we were to leave some carrots unharvested, the plant would bloom in spring, but in order to do so it would use up the nutrients in the carrot, leaving it shriveled and inedible. During winter, the gene that represses flowering goes through an alteration process called vernalization that allows it to bloom in spring.

During winter, most trees move sugars and carbohydrates from leafy areas down to the roots so the roots can get enough nourishment in the winter months to survive and begin new growth in spring. Evergreen leaves continue their photosynthesis during winter but at a much slower pace.

Seeds from either native plants or introduced plants from a cold climate are genetically programmed to survive winter. They are metabolizing at very low levels until spring. As the day’s light grows longer and the temperature rises, the seed’s hormones will trigger germination if it has enough water.

When you look out over your winter yard, just think of all the invisible work taking place to make your beautiful landscape come to life in spring.

Picking Up After Old Man Winter 

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As the snow recedes and the days get longer, our yards might be as ready for renewal as we are.

The beginning of spring provides the perfect opportunity to take stock of everything that needs hauling, repairing, fertilizing, aerating, trimming, pruning, and mowing. This clean up is not just important for aesthetic reasons, but for the health of our largest asset – our home. And, if you’re a garden lover, you know how important it is to prepare the yard for the coming growing season.

The first step is assessment of not only the shrubs and trees, but of your outdoor living spaces. Winter can be especially hard on patios, decks, walkways, and driveways. Aside from adding new stones where walls have come undone or pebbles to garden paths, your plantings are depending on your care and attention to give them the best possible restart.

Perennial Beds

Begin by removing any dead leaves and stalks from perennials and ornamental grasses. Scissors are a great tool for this.

Lawns

A good deep raking will not only remove whatever leaves accumulated after your fall raking, but will help control the thatch build up that will smother new lawn growth. Wait until the ground is dry but the grass is still brown. Removing thatch will promote air flow, prevent mold and other disease, and will help new grass germinate.

Trees

Early spring is a great time to install new trees. Planting a larger tree means you don’t have to wait a decade for shade or for the tree to grow into the landscape.

Shrubs

Cut off any broken or dead branches caused by winter’s snow and ice. It’s also time to prune any shrub that is not a spring bloomer. Prune summer flowering shrubs in early spring before any new spring growth begins.

Should you have questions on what to trim, plant, feed, or fertilize, don’t hesitate to give us a call. We’re always happy to help. And stop by to take a walk around the nursery for inspiration.

 

February’s Landscaping Replacement: Landscape Art

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The weather is frighteningly frigid and getting back to working the greenery in our yards feels such a long way away. While fewer of us are venturing out of our homes, much less getting to dig in the earth, there’s still a way of maintaining the peace that nature offers us – landscape art.

In addition to the curb appeal of having a beautiful blooming shrub in our front yard or a giant oak or maple in our backyard is that “Human beings are naturally drawn to vastness in scenery,” explains David Chang, Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at Florida International University. He is right. There are very few people who can look upon any one of Monet’s garden series without feeling the beauty of nature he captured.

Our advice to beat the February – no gardening for me blues – is to look at art for arts sake of for your spring gardening inspiration.

Here are a few landscape artists worth looking up:

 

Claude Monet
French painter and founder of abstract expressionism, Claude Monet is known for his paintings of water lilies and his own garden. He loved to paint the same scene many times, looking to capture the changing light and seasons.

Garden in Giverny

Monet: The Artist’s Garden in Giverny (1900) by Claude Monet. Original from the Yale University Art Gallery. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel;

Thomas Cole

As a member of the Hudson River School, Thomas Cole created romantic portrayals of the vastness of nature, creating a sense of awe in its beauty.

Cole Thomas The Course of Empire The Arcadian or Pastoral State 1836

The Course of Empire The Arcadian or Pastoral State 1836 Thomas Cole (WikiCommons)

Camille Pissarro
Another French Impressionist, Pissarro was devoted to capturing a moment in nature instead of simply depicting it. Unlike many landscape artists, Pissarro’s work often included local peasants working within the landscape.

A View of L’Hermitage, near Pontoise 1874 by Camille Pissasro

Camille PissaroA View of L’Hermitage, near Pontoise 1874 (WikiCommons)

Georgia O’Keefe

Georgia O’Keefe was one of the most important artists of the 20th She’s best known for her paintings of large flowers and the New Mexico landscape that became her home after she left new York City.

Mesa Painting by Georgie O'Keeffe

Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico / Out Back of Marie’s II, 1930
Oil on canvas, 24 1/4 x 36 1/4 inches
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
Gift of The Burnett Foundation
1997.6.15
Artist: Georgia O’Keeffe

Anselm Adams
Photographer Anselm Adams was a visionary in his patient approach to preserving the country’s beauty. Drawn to the beauty of nature’s monuments, he was a devoted environmentalist who establish photography as art in the early part of the 20th

Ansel Adams

By Ansel Adams – This media is available in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the National Archives Identifier (NAID) 519986., Public Domain, WikiMedia)

photographer Ansel Adams has been a visionary in his efforts to preserve this country’s wild and scenic areas, both on film and on Earth. Drawn to the beauty of nature’s monuments, he is regarded by environmentalists as a monument himself, and by photographers as a national institution. It is through his foresight and fortitude that so much of America has been saved for future Americans.”

 

Winter: The Best Time to Plan your Landscape

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We know it’s cold outside. The ground is frozen and our trees and shrubs have entered a dormant period. While we hibernate in the warmth of our homes is the best time to plan for the landscape we want to create and enjoy in the coming warmth of spring.

Think of your yard as the biggest room of your house, albeit an outdoor room. And, it’s a room that is on public display too. So take a seat by the fireplace and get your creative juices flowing:

Practical Considerations

  • Does your yard have good drainage?
  • Is there a slope that makes part of your yard unusable?
  • Do you have the privacy you want?
  • Are patios and walkways in need of upgrade?
  • Do you have adequate night lighting?

By asking yourself these types of important questions, you can establish important projects that require your attention.

Wish List

Taking care of the most dire practical considerations makes way for the fun part. Invite your family to participate. Would your kids spend more time at home playing in the yard if that fixed slope gave them the space to play? Would an enlarged deck or patio make family BBQs more enjoyable?

The choices of what to plant and where to plant are both aesthetic and practical choices. If you are a gardener, a walk around your property can inform you of where you’d like a privacy hedge or what shade tree would really add to your curb appeal.

If you’re not a gardener, use catalogs, Pinterest, and our website and Instagram account for inspiration. Then give us a call in March to let us help you make that big outside room one you and your family will love to spend the summer in.

Indoor Gardening for Outdoor Gardeners

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For many of us, December marks a time when outdoor landscaping and we
yearn for outdoor gardening activities. When the need to work in the
soil is too strong, there are many worthy indoor gardening projects that
not only bring satisfaction but enliven and invigorate the home.

Growing a kitchen herb garden, forcing bulbs, starting a terrarium, or
caring for orchids are just a few of the directions indoor gardening can
take.  You can cultivate your own lemon tree from the seeds of lemons
you’ve used in your cooking. Or, perhaps cacti and succulents appeal.
And, if you’re low on space, try creating a living wall. And, don’t
overlook the opportunity to begin germinate seeds that will be once
again planted outdoors in the spring. You can cultivate your indoor
gardening passion by yourself or make it a family affair.

A Healthier, Happier You

It’s amazing what a walk in the park can do for our well-being. Feelings
of fatigue and stress fade after time spent out in nature. Growing
indoor plants have a similar effect. They not only improve the
aesthetics of our home but have been said to improve moods, increase
creativity, and most importantly eliminate indoor air pollutants. Most
wall paints, computers, and plastics in our home release compounds into
the air we breathe. In winter, when we spend more time with our windows
shut, the air quality at home suffers. Plants absorb these toxins, break
them down, and use them as food – making a healthier, happier you.

Being able to dig in some dirt, even during winter, is a great pastime.
And, before you know it, it’ll be spring again.