Winterizing Your Plants
Remember to water (prior to the ground freezing) if we have a week without rain. Feed your plants with Plant-Tone or Holly-Tone during the fall to send them into the winter with good nutrition.
	Be sure to apply an anti-dessicant to your broadleaf evergreens. Rhododendrons, Azaleas, evergreens, and ornamental shrubs will benefit greatly from a product such as "Wilt-Stop". Cold weather moisture loss can cause severe wilting, shock, or plant failure, so protect your valuable plants now.
You may want to wrap shrubs and ornamentals with burlap, particularly if the plantings are recent (1-3 years) or fragile. Make sure shrubs, trees and perennials are mulched with 2-3 inches of bark mulch after the ground is frozen. This is more important than most people think. Use wooden shrub protectors to protect foundation shrubs. Roses should be cut back and covered now. First, spray with a dormant spray or oil to avoid diseases that could return in the spring. Then, cover the crown of the plant with a soil mound about 6 inches high. Then cover the entire mound with mulch.
back