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Winterizing Your Landscape

© Georgeann Hall

Well, here we are...another summer behind us and we've put our gardens to bed until next season. But what about our landscapes? Many of us just assume that trees and shrubs automatically take care of themselves through the winter and will survive the frigid temperatures unscathed. Unfortunately, this is not always true and a little preparation now , will assure healthy, happy plants come spring.

Winter injury also known as winterkill occurs because evergreens continue to transpire water even when they are seemingly dormant. On windy, sunny days, especially when the ground is frozen, the plant's roots are unable to replace moisture lost through the leaves. Plants become dessicated and eventually develop browning of leaf or needle tips. Other types of winter injury are browning of foliage caused from the drift of salt spray from treated highways onto plants, and browning of leaf tips caused from the effects of deicing salt which has leached into the soil. Protect plants from spray drift by erecting screens of canvas or burlap, and protect plants from deicing salts by switching to one of the more environmentally friendly types of deicers which contain calcium or magnesium instead of sodium.

You can also help protect plants from the effects of winter by making sure they are well watered before winter sets in. Considering the drought that affected most of the country this year, I'd say there will be many plants which will suffer and likely die this winter. A couple of things you can do to assure your landscape's survival is make sure plants are watered and mulched in the fall. Water again during mid winter when temperatures are above freezing. And you can also apply an antitranspirant, also known as an anti-dessicant like Wilt-pruf to the foliage. Anti-transpirants form a protective barrier on plant foliage which help reduce the loss of moisture through plant leaves.

Plants most susceptible to winter injury are needle and broadleaf evergreens, and new transplants, though no plant is immune.

Check out this site for more info: http://www.wiltpruf.com/story.html

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