Putting the Garden to Bed

Winter in Nebraska can be a stressful time for many plants in the garden. Although it has been at least 10 years or more since we have had a winter with -32 F, more than the cold can be a stress on our plants.

When people talk about it being a terrible winter when there is a lot of snow, I feel like rolling my eyes and shaking my head. Would you believe that a nice warmish winter without lots of ice and snow is a bad thing? When we have an open winter I know that lots of people think of it as a nice winter, but actually the snow and ice add needed moisture to the soil for the plants.  A good snow cover also protects plants from cold.

Water

One of the best ways to prepare for any winter is to make sure that all plants, that is trees, shrubs, perennial flowers and even the grass enter the winter season with a good drink. The soil should not be over saturated, but do water all trees and planting beds well.. Going into the cold season without being dehydrated helps many plants survive the cold. If there is little snow or rain in the winter, the soil becomes dry and cracks develop in the soil. The cracks expose plant roots to the cold and can damage them.

Even if you have watered well before the cold weather hits, cracks can develop in the soil if we have a dry winter. When this happens set a sprinkler out and water, even if the ground seems to be frozen. The moisture will go into the cracks.  We always get a nice warm period in the winter and this is an excellent time to make it a habit to get the hoses out to water.  

The best type of sprinkler to use in the winter is one that does NOT have a spike that has to go into the (frozen) soil. Right now there may be still some good sales on sprinklers. 

Hoses  

Always disconnect all hoses from the house. Forgetting to disconnect the hose during cold weather is an invitation to get frozen and broken pipes in the house…and a major mess in the basement.

Protection from Animal Damage

Living close to the woods is nice because we get to see a lot of wildlife.  It can also be stressful to our garden plants if they become dinner. I have found that rabbits have a rule that goes: If it is new or young, a taste is required.  Small trees, especially those with smooth bark are often targets of hungry bunnies and mice and voles. The best protection is to prevent them from getting to the bark using a cage made from inexpensive chicken fencing. Burning bush and plants in the dogwood and apple families are especially attractive to animals looking for dinner in winter. Blueberries and roses are like deer candy, so always protect them.

Rabbit damage can seriously damage a plant and even kill it. The reason damage to the bark is so detrimental is that plants have their circulation system, going up and down, just below the surface of the bark. Any break in the bark shuts off the “arteries”, leading to the death of the tissues served by them. Similar damage is cause by lawn mowers getting too close or the weed whip hitting the bark of trees and shrubs.

We have deer in the woods and cages have to be taller to prevent deer damage. Deer enjoy foraging from about 2 to 5 feet in height on plants, though if it is especially tasty, they will go lower. Applying one of the deer repellents such as Hinder can help, but it must be reapplied every couple weeks, and more often if we get a good rain. Some people have gotten good results from applications of a stinky fertilizer like Milorganite or blood meal. Milorganite is made from the sewage from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Using a hand grass spreader, open fully; apply it to all beds and bushes on the soil. Reapply after a heavy rain, or at least every two weeks. Using a hand-cranked spreader puts it on evenly and lightly. Beware applying by the handful. Although it is an organic fertilizer, throwing a big handful in a clump can burn roots.

Protecting Roses

Roses are very attractive to rabbits so consider caging. Shrub roses are generally quite hardy in Nebraska winters, but they can be severely damaged by rabbits. Caging protects them, but you can also mulch them. Using 1 to 1 ½ cubic feet of mulch is usually enough for an average size rose. Commercial mulch comes in either 2 or 3 cubic foot bags. Mulching protects from the fluctuating cold and warmer temperatures and keeps the temperatures more constant as well as insulating the plant from severe cold. The reason fluctuating temperatures are damaging is that the rose may start to grow if the weather turns warm and newly opened buds easily freeze and die.

Put the mulch on Roses after the night temperatures are consistently below freezing most nights. Mulch should go over the crown of the plant, and as high as you want to hill it up. The more tender roses benefit from higher mulch.

Hydrangea Protection

Some of the tender hydrangea leaf and flower buds die from winter injury, either from the cold or drying winds. Covering the plant after mulching with some burlap has been found to help protect exposed buds from freezing and dieing. Older varieties need at least some stem from last year to survive in order to get flowers the following summer. Newer selections like Endless Summer Hydrangea bloom on new wood so even if it dies to the ground, new growth will bloom.

Fertilizing

Winter fertilization with a slow release formulation seems to give the best results if applied when the weather is cooler and the leaves of the trees have nearly all dropped. This seems like a no brainer, especially on turf. Fertilizer causes growth! When it is applied earlier new tender growth happens and then with cold temperatures hit, that new grown gets zapped and it turns brown in winter. Wait until grass slows down its growth naturally when the temperatures are consistently cooler, to apply winterize fertilizer and the grass is less likely to winter burn and will begin new growth more vigorously in the spring.  

Flowerbeds will respond to putting garden fertilizer on later in fall when top growth has stopped. The roots are still alive and will take up some nutrients and because fertilizer breaks down slower in the cooler winter temperatures it will still be available throughout the winter and in spring.

The Veggie Garden

Get a start on spring by preparing at least one bed now and planting seed of cool season vegetables like lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, kale, endive and peas. If we have a wet spring and you cannot get into the garden because of the mud, you may just have some seedlings coming up and be harvesting new lettuce when your neighbor is just beginning to plant. Put some chicken fence around the early bed to prevent rabbits from harvesting before you do.

I know that officially our government does not recognize Global Warming, but we have been having warmer winters lately.  This has led to more insect problems in the vegetable garden. Before the soil freezes go out the veggie garden and take a spade and turn over the soil in chunks. Do not use a roto tiller, which churns up the soil. Leave it in chunks you have flipped over. This will expose some sleeping insects and eggs to the cold on the surface and make it less likely they survive the winter.

Inviting Wildlife  

One of the greatest joys of winter is watching the birds and squirrels come to a feeder. If you already have a feeder, wipe all old grain and debris out and spray or wipe the feeder with a 10% Clorox solution to kill diseases and germs that may harm winter visitors. Black oil sunflower seed attracts the greatest variety of birds. Niger thistle attracts the gold finches. Squirrels will eat anything but like corn and peanuts. We have a squirrel feeder with a nail in it that you stick a whole ear of corn on for them. Hang a board or piece of firewood with one-inch holes drilled in it and hang from a tree branch. Fill the holes with peanut butter and woodpeckers, nuthatches and flickers will come. You can also buy a suet feeder. Suet blocks are fairly inexpensive, or save cooking grease if you are a meat eater and melt it slightly then add a little bird food if desired and fill a wax paper lined jelly roll pan with the mixture.  When it cools score to the size of the suet feeder. Store extra blocks in the freezer. For people who are prejudiced against squirrels, some people have good luck preventing squirrels by adding hot pepper powder to the bird feed or only using safflower seed. Squirrels have taste buds very similar to humans and the hot pepper is a deterrent, and birds do not notice the pepper.

Those Pesky Leaves

An excellent additive to shrub and flower and vegetable beds are leaves from the trees. Rake or blow leaves from driveways and patios into the flowerbeds. If you have a catcher on the lawnmower, blow or rake leaves onto the grass. Mow the lawn and put the grass leaf mixture on flower and vegetable beds. Improve the soil of turf by not catching the grass/leaves, just allow it to blow out the chute or use a mulching mower and grinding up the leaves onto the lawn.