How to Care for Outdoor Plants in the Winter

In winter, most plants enter dormancy for the cold months. Preparing your outdoor plants for winter ensures they will wake up in spring healthy and undamaged. Continued care throughout winter also minimizes damage that may occur. Evergreen trees and shrubs need continued care year round, as they never enter a deep dormancy period. Other plants are more prone to breaking or frost damage than others and special care must be taken before the temperature plummets. While there is less to do in the garden, some plant care still takes place during the cold months.

Things You'll Need

• Straw mulch
• Stakes
• Burlap

Instructions

1. Remove summer mulches, dead leaves and other garden debris before the ground freezes in fall. These harbor diseases over winter that attack plants while they are vulnerable in spring.

2. Lay down fresh mulch. Lay 2 to 4 inches of straw mulches over perennial flower beds to protect the crowns of the plants from frost and prevent frost heave, caused by the thawing and refreezing of the ground. Mulch over the surface roots of trees and shrubs to protect these and help preserve moisture in the soil.

3. Check the soil for moisture around evergreen trees and shrubs when ever the ground thaws throughout winter. Water the evergreens if the soil is dry and not frozen. Otherwise, the leaves or needles will turn brown and die.

4. Erect wind breaks for evergreen plants if they aren't in a sheltered area. Surround the plant with stakes and wrap burlap around the stakes. This works as a wind break without trapping heat that may burn the plant on sunny days.

5. Move container plants into a protected area during the winter. Roots are in more frost danger in containers. Place in a shed, garage or a location away from winter wind and sun.

Tips & Warnings

• Anti-desiccant sprays are available for evergreen plants, to protect the leaves from drying out when the ground is dry.

• Do not place mulches right up against the trunks of shrubs and trees. Mice will nest in it and chew on the tree bark, damaging the plant.

• Do not prune plants during winter. Prune away winter damage in spring once the plant begins actively growing again.

References

• University of Vermont Extension: Winterize Your Garden
• Cornell University: Winterizing Your Garden