Winterizing your Plants

Winter sun and wind can have devastating drying effects on shrubs, both evergreen and deciduous. Flower and leaf buds will dry and die and evergreen foliage will discolor. Other causes of discoloration are from salt spray, lack of cold hardiness, and lack of moisture. You can ease them through this difficult time by using plants that are hardy in your zone and by taking some preventive measures in the late fall and early winter.

First, give all your plants a good soaking right before the ground freezes, so that during the January thaw when many plants are winterkilled from lack of moisture, they will grope around and find water. Next, wrap plants located in open,windy sites with burlap after the temperatures have plunged to freezing. Remove the covering in the spring as soon as the temperatures are reliably above freezing, so they won't "cook" under the wrap. Accompany the wrapping with an extra layer of mulch around the bases of the plants to insulate the roots and hold in moisture. Again, remove the extra mulch in spring, so the roots won't suffocate during the growing season.

Finally, locate plants where salt spray will not reach them and use an antidessicant spray such as Wilt-Pruf according to the manufacturer's suggestions. Antidessicants coat and protect shrub and tree buds and foliage from the drying winds and sun of winter.

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