This week’s snow reminds us that it is definitely time to prepare the landscape for chewing pests, wind, snow, and ice. Make it a priority to put barriers around valuable new plantings and young trees. I have four, maybe five, oak trees started, and I marked their locations with landscape flags. Once they lose their leaves, I will not be able to distinguish them from other woody seedlings. Landscape flags can help.
Browsing rabbits and deer will also chew up tree seedlings, so I created a simple fence of chicken wire and anchored it with bamboo stakes. By gently folding the top third of fencing together, I created a domed cover that will deter deer and rabbits as long as other vegetation is available.
To keep evergreens looking their best next spring, set up temporary fences of burlap around them. These fences do triple duty: They serve as windbreaks, as protective barriers against salt spray from roads, and as shade from intense winter sunlight reflecting off snowy or icy surfaces. Measure the perimeter of the planting and cut burlap “fencing” to size. Pound in wooden support stakes every four to six feet and attach the burlap to the stakes with a staple gun.
Enjoy the frost-tolerant “hardy mum” flowers for weeks, but do not expect these annuals to last more than one season. The colorful, hardy annual mums sold at garden shops and florists (Chrysanthemum x morifolium) will not survive winter freezes and thaws. They have been bred for showy autumn impact.
I use hardy mums as place holders in my large containers to keep the soil loose. In the next couple weeks, I will replace the tired-looking mums in my containers with wintery evergreen boughs—like pine and hemlock from my yard, birch branches, and dogwood stems.
By the way, here is another reason to know botanical names: The related Chrysanthemum x rubellum ‘Clara Curtis’ (synonymous with Dendranthemum x rubellum ‘Clara Curtis’) is an example of a mum that will return year after year.
If my container soil freezes hard before I get my sticks in place, I may have to use an electric drill to insert the stems. A bath of boiling water can also thaw the soil surface enough to make an arrangement. Many gardeners reserve potting soil or compost in the garage to keep it from freezing and then use that to secure the arrangements in December.
Likewise, if you hope to have a live tree as a Christmas decoration this year, dig the hole and reserve the soil now. Select the tree and, in particular, the pot size to determine the dimensions of the planting hole—same depth as the pot and twice as wide. You will want to dig the hole for the tree while you can and reserve the soil where it will not freeze. When it is time to plant after the holiday, you will have the hole and soil ready to nurture the tree through the winter.
If you have all your holes dug and soil stored, you can continue to cut back old foliage from your ornamental perennials. Cutting back the dead stems and old leaves will remove potential pathogens and help prevent disease next year. You do not need to cut back all the way to the soil surface. Many perennials will have a rosette of new leaves at the base of dead flower stems, and this rosette will provide for the plant next spring.
As shorter days and longer nights spread before us, it is nice to think about adding more houseplants. Maybe you know new gardeners, young or old, who could use some green in their windows. Spider plants are pet safe and easy to grow. They tolerate dry soil, but if kept consistently moist, they will send multiple runners of “daughter” plants that make the pot look like a large green, multi-legged spider. The daughters can be potted up as well for easy propagation. When repotting houseplants, always use a potting soil that retains moisture but also drains.
And for flowers, paperwhite Narcissus bulbs can be forced into bloom in about three weeks. Even better, these bulbs will bloom if set into a shallow bowl of rocks filled with water– no soil required! See the simple steps to grow paperwhites in this post on Ward’s Nursery’s website.
Dark and rainy days can be depressing for gardeners. Try to appreciate what rain does in the landscape. Bundle up and observe how plants hold or direct rainwater. Some of these forms have evolved over millennia to work symbiotically with other creatures on the planet. Imagine how an insect can crawl along a dew-covered branch and get all the water it needs or how a bird can touch its beak to a droplet while staying high in a tree. There is much to see in our gardens. A lazy gardener loves to walk and just observe.
I call myself the Lazy Berkshire Gardener because I don’t want to work too hard in my gardens. I want to enjoy them. I find it easier to observe my landscape and let the compost happen, the water pool up, or daisies to self-sow. I look for ways to do the minimum task for the biggest impact. For example, mulching is better than spraying and much better than weeding all season. I look for beautiful, low-maintenance plants that thrive in or at least tolerate my garden conditions. Plus, I am willing to live with the consequences if I miss something.
