Today’s Garden Ideas

The questions all of us have about this winter concerns how it will affect our gardens and landscapes. Are my trees and shrubs going to make it this year? Will my bulbs come up? Will my azaleas bloom? What will happen to my lawn?
Evergreens exposed to cold and strong winds will sometimes have burned looking leaves. Sometimes the plant will die. However, most plants will recover and put out new growth in the spring. Don’t be hasty to dig up a plant unless you are positive it is dead. Again, a quick scratch with your fingernail will determine if there is life in that shrub or tree. One long term solution to avoiding plant winter burn is proper placement on your property. Keep susceptible plants out of the strong wind.

Another problem to look for is salt damage. With this year’s use of salts to melt the ice, the salt can do damage if in large enough amounts. Look for discolored lawn areas next to the street, in the drain swale in front of your house, and adjacent to sidewalks if salt was used. Usually this won’t be cause for alarm, since lawn areas will quickly recover. But it bears watching.

There are benefits to having this long, cold, snowy winter. Most importantly, we can breathe a sigh of relief that the drought is over. There will be adequate moisture in our streams and water tables. The soil will have adequate moisture to begin any early spring gardening. Also, snow acts as an excellent insulator on the ground. Therefore, the ground did not freeze as deeply as it could have. That means that most roots of established plants should be fine. (Plants left outdoors in containers probably froze all the way through, and probably will not live) Most importantly, the long hours, days and weeks sitting inside watching the outside have given us an opportunity to plan our outdoor gardening activities.

Take some time to review some garden books and magazines. The library has an excellent selection. There are excellent shows on HGTV covering a wide variety of gardening interests. Draw up a list of your garden priorities. Sketch out some new gardens you might want this year. Look through the catalogs that come this time of year.

This winter will come to an end. Pretty soon Spring Fever will hit.