Preparing your garden for Winter

• Don’t forget to turn off your outdoor faucets from the inside and drain them so your pipes don’t freeze! Irrigation systems should be professionally blown-out, drained, and turned off for the winter, if you haven’t done so already, to protect from damage. In addition, bring in your hoses. Ceramic/terra cotta pots can freeze, swell and crack, too—unless you have the frost-proof kinds (Impruneta)--so don’t forget to store or cover them.
  
  
• Though many of your gardens have experienced the first frosts/freezes of the season, the serious, serious cold usually doesn’t come in until January. If we have a warm spell, and it still seems dry, turn on your water and give your new plantings, especially, a good, deep soak. This is important going into the winter because when the ground freezes hard, plants cannot absorb any water into their systems. As the winter winds blow, moisture is whipped out of the plants and there is no way for them to replace it. This is the cause for winter-burn and consequently, death, if the freeze goes on long enough and the plants were already dry. Fall watering “plumps them up” and helps to protect them against winter-burn. Just don’t forget to turn off your spigots again if another serious freeze comes in.
  
  
• Clean fallen leaves off your lawn. The leaves can mat down and kill the grass underneath. Fallen leaves can remain in beds, if desired.
  
  
• Be sure to gently knock off any snow from your flexible plants, such as boxwoods and waxmyrtles, to prevent breakage. Do not try to knock off ice (or pour hot water on your plants to melt it!). Let it melt naturally and fall on its own. The stems are extremely brittle when covered with ice. What I learned from the heavy, heavy snows and ice of recent winters: Let Nature take its course. I tried to knock the snow off early on, but eventually I just let the snow pile up and enclose the plants. Then I left everything to its own devices. I made this decision after I tried to get proactive and knock off some heavy snow from a big boxwood branch—the branch had iced underneath the snow and the whole thing cracked off when I shook it too hard. Lesson learned--and I went inside. What else I learned: After a good pruning and some time, all my plants recovered from breakage and look great now. Be patient.
  
  

• Get out and buy snow shovels now, so you’re ready, while the supply is still good. Be careful that any de-icers you apply to your sidewalks/driveway do not contain salts that can damage the lawn or plants adjacent to these areas.
  
  
• You can protect your most tender evergreens by wrapping them in cotton burlap, if you wish. This helps protect winter-sensitive plants in areas exposed to winter sun and wind. The sun can burn plants after a particularly cold night, too.
  
  
• If you decorate the indoors of your home for the holidays, now is a good time to do some pruning on your evergreens. You can use the cuttings for your decorating. Just make sure to step back frequently to make sure your pruning is uniform! In addition, please be aware that boxwood blight has been introduced into our area. It primarily affects American and English boxwoods (Buxus sempervirens) and, as with most fungal diseases, cleanliness is your biggest defense. Please be aware (via Virginia Tech and Virginia Cooperative Extension): Boxwood greenery used for holiday decoration can also harbor the boxwood blight pathogen. To minimize risk of introducing the disease to a landscape via holiday boxwood greenery:

1. Inspect greenery carefully for symptoms of boxwood blight (Symptoms include leaf spots, rapid defoliation, distinctive black cankers on stems, and severe dieback). Do not introduce symptomatic greenery to landscapes containing susceptible boxwood plants. Double-bag symptomatic plant material before removing to the landfill. Be careful to remove all plant debris, including fallen leaves.

2. Be aware that in some cases asymptomatic boxwood could also harbor the pathogen. On properties with highly valued boxwood, it may be best to avoid introducing boxwood greenery altogether.

3. After the holidays, dispose of boxwood greenery by double-bagging it in sealed plastic bags and removing it to a landfill. Be careful to remove all plant debris, including fallen leaves.

4. Do not compost boxwood greenery.

• You can add mulch now, too, if it is needed, and especially around more tender plants. Mulch should measure no more than two-three inches deep—this includes the mulch you added earlier this year. Mulch that is too deep stifles plant growth, so go easy. Do not mulch over dry ground (not a problem this fall, but could be in the coming weeks); water well before applying. Do not pile up mulch against the trunks of your trees or stems of your plants—they need to breathe. No fertilizing on your shrubbery should take place until late winter–early spring.
  
  
• Let your houseplants rest while indoors for the winter. I give them as much light as possible, and I only water them when they begin to look like they need it—which isn’t very often. I don’t fertilize at all over the winter, either, because I don’t want them to grow until the sun gets strong again in late winter. I begin feeding them again around March 1st with a water-soluble fertilizer like Miracle-Gro or Peter’s.
  
  
• I never leave liquid garden chemicals out in the shed where they can freeze. It can ruin them. I put them in my utility room, on a high shelf, out of the sun. They should be in a cool, dry, frost-free storage spot. The main thing is to store them safely out of the reach of children and pets, and others who may not know what they are grabbing. Always read the labels (you should be doing this, anyway, for everyone’s safety)—they will always tell you about storage. And check those expiration dates—safely and properly discard them if out-of-date.
  
  
• This winter, check out some good garden books, magazines and websites. It’s a wonderful time to get inspired for next spring. It’s a great time to get out in your garden, walk around, and see where there might be any “holes”. Stop and assess. This is the time of year the “bones” of your garden are important and really shine.

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