Lawn and Landscape Checklist - December

If you planted new trees and shrubs this year, take time to protect them from harsh winter weather conditions. Fluctuating temps and bright sunlight can stimulate plant growth and leave plants vulnerable to freezing nights, harsh winds, and heavy snow and ice. But don’t worry. Your hard work doesn’t have to be undone by winter conditions.

Here are a few tips to keep your landscape safe:

• Protect young trees. Temperature variations effect young, newly planted or transplanted trees, and thin-barked trees like cherry, crabapple, honey locust, linden, maple, mountain ash, and plum.
  
  Create your own “artificial bark” protection for these and other trees by wrapping them with a commercial tree wrap, plastic tree guards, or any light-colored material. The light-colored material will reflect the sun and keep the bark at a more constant temperature. Wrap new trees for at least two winters, and if the bark is very thin, wrap for up to five winters.
• Shield a windy garden. If your plants are exposed to wind or strong sun, use burlap to form a protective wall around your plant. Leave the top open, so the plants can get adequate air, water and light.
• Protect evergreens from snow and ice. Upright evergreens like arborvitae and juniper can be damaged irreparably by snow and ice. Use a soft, but strong, cloth like twine or nylon stockings to wrap weak internal branches together.
• Fill cracks in landscape beds, where the cold air can penetrate quickly. Fill the cracks with soil. After soiling, mulch your beds. Mulch is a great insulator. Soil remains warmer than air during the winter months, but your landscape plants could be susceptible to freeze-up.
• Take time to plan your spring landscape beds, including what to grow, spacing, arrangement and number of plants needed. Order seeds from mail-order catalogs or online stores.

Read more about protecting plants from winter damage.