In a gardener’s mind, going back to standard time means getting the outdoor chores finished earlier in the day, before the sun goes down. That’s typically not a problem, unless snow gets in the way.
Here are a couple of November ideas that will help your trees and other plants get through the winter with less stress, plus an easy outdoor container planting idea that you will thank me for next spring.
Tree wrap warmth
Giving trees a leg up with an insulation wrap of protection around the trunk each fall is worth the 10 or so minutes it takes to do. (Betty Cahill, Special to The Denver Post)
The Denver area has well over 200 sunny to partly sunny days all year — with few complaints from Coloradans. Trees, on the other hand, from fall to spring can experience sunscald and frost cracks from sunny days with warm daytime temperatures followed by cold nights. This condition can be damaging for young and newly planted deciduous trees, including oak, maple, linden, willow, honey locust and fruit trees. Thicker bark insulates older trees so they are less prone to winter sun and temperature-related issues.
Over the winter months, sunscald can result from the cells in the young tree tissue warming up during the day, usually on the south and southwest side of trees. At night, or with quick, cold temperature changes, the cells can freeze and die, resulting in tree injury. Frost cracks can happen when the tender bark freezes and thaws with temperature changes, leading to bark cracks and splitting. These conditions may harm the tree’s future health and its ability to ward off disease and pest insects.
Giving trees a leg up with an insulation wrap of protection around the trunk each fall is worth the 10 or so minutes it takes to do. Keep this up for the first three or four years of a tree’s new life.
Use a wrap designed for trees available at your local garden center and online. Start wrapping at the base of the tree, overlapping 33% with each turn, so there aren’t gaps that can cause it to sag and fall away over the winter. Wrap up to the lowest branches of the tree. Secure the top with flexible ties or tape, avoid attaching the tape to the actual tree bark.
Remove the wrap in April, keeping it on longer than that may contribute to harboring insects or disease. (Wrap left on too long can also girdle the tree, which is never good.)
Mulch matters
Another plant protection and insulation recommendation over the winter is using mulch around new perennial plants, trees and shrub roots, and bulb plantings. Mulch can guard against soil heaving (rising up from the roots), from temperature fluctuations, and prevent soil erosion where there is open soil like the vegetable garden. The best time to apply winter mulch is after the ground has frozen in the fall, or if the ground doesn’t freeze then after several nights of temperatures below freezing.
There are many options for mulch: grass clippings, chopped leaves, weed free straw, wood mulch, arborist wood chips and pine needles. Apply to a depth of 2 to 4 inches. Keep all mulch materials a few inches away from the base of woody plants to prevent moisture from being too close to the trunk. Mulch can be removed once consistent warmer temperatures remain in spring.
Hyacinth heaven scent
Place an arrangement of hyacinth bulbs (or other bulbs of your choosing) on top of the potting soil pointy side up. (Betty Cahill, Special to The Denver Post)
For indoor hyacinth color and fragrance next year, use one of your favorite outdoor, easy-to-move decorative containers, or a soft-sided fabric one that fits inside a container. Fill the container with fresh potting soil, leaving a few inches at the top. Place an arrangement of hyacinth bulbs (or other bulbs of your choosing) on top of the potting soil pointy side up. Add more potting soil to cover the bulbs and water the container well.
Sink the container in a raised bed or ground-level soil. (Squirrels generally do not go for hyacinth bulbs.) Use critter repellent or an old window screen or wire over other bulbs they do like, such as tulips, for anti-squirrel insurance.
Sinking the container in soil protects it all winter from being exposed to freeze/thaw cycles, which can damage the bulbs. In 16 to 18 weeks after the required cold temperatures that hyacinths need, remove the container, brush back a bit of the topsoil, clean the sides and bring it indoors, where the bulbs will bloom in a couple of weeks and pleasantly waft the house with fragrance and joy. Keep the soil moist, not soggy, when the container is indoors.
If you prefer not planting the bulbs outside in a container, keep them consistently chilled at 40 degrees for three months. After that time, pot them up and enjoy spring’s arrival in your home.
Betty Cahill speaks and writes about gardening in the Rocky Mountain Region.