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January Gardening Thoughts
I look forward each day durring the winter. To some, lamentingthe past days of fall with its bright foliage in the landscape,and feeling down that the dull days of winter are here. For me Ihave grown to appreciate each day and look forward to interestsin landscapes that are there knowing that many dazzelingdisplays can be found by careful observation. The days are shortand the nights are long. Yet growing plants and enjoying plantsare year round activities that bring many quality hours ofenjoyment. Watering plants can be be on your list of things to do. Make ita point to get out and check on your plants. The ground may notbe frozen and plants still use water. If the ground is notfrozen you can still water if the ground will accept the water.Most plants are dormant so the amount of watering is not as highas in the hotter seasons. Evergreens lose water through theirneedles in the winter. So if one keeps watering as long aspossible into the winter, seedlings and plants will suffer lessstress. Winter drying of evergreens is a major stress factor inoverwintering. Snow and ice on your plants can be problematic. Tall thin plantsare not as sturdy a plant. They tend to bend under snow loadsand may require staking later to train them strait. If yoursmall plants have a light amount of snow covering them you mayease the snow burden by lightly sweeping the snow with a broom.Don't shake them, they are like babies ... they get shaken babysyndrome. If snow or ice is frozen to the branches, allow it tomelt rather than attempting to correct. If any branches arebroken, you probably don't need to do anything unless there is asplit in the trunk. If the breakage of the plant is sever, theseedling or liner shoud be discarded. The labor to correct isnot worth the value of the plant. Also a poor quality seedlingwill probably be a poor quality mature plant. There is a marketfor such plants however, we have had many customers who want, "Charly Brown Trees" or stunted trees for unusual customer needs. Warm spells in the winter occur. Suddenly, there can be days ofwarmer temperatures. This should not be a problem. When a warmspell occurs, get out and use some shoe leather and wear outthose leather gloves. Its a great to have a break in mid winterand you can prepare for spring. If you have covering on or overthe plants, you may need to ventilate. We normally open thedoors to our greenhoses and this is usually all that isnecessary. Cold frame temps may rise so ventilation will behelpful. Close up as nightfall arrives as the temperature willfall. Note that when sunlight intensity is high, plant tissuesbecome active. Water loss at this time can't be replaced if theroot...
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... are frozen. This is called plant desiccation. Also if theremany freeze-thaw cycles, the crown of the plant will be heavedup exposing the roots. Root systems have a lower tolerance totemperature extremes and can killed by freezing lowtemperatures.A common way to prevent desiccation is to screenplants in exposed areas with Burlap . Varmit control is important in the winter. Mice and rabbits feedconstantly . Their teeth grow constantly and they love to chewon tender plants. We spread rat and mice bait about every two tothrees weeks as long as we see it being consumed. Try and placethe baits in a place where its easy to moniter, dry, andaccessable only to the varmits. When the snow gets deep micewill feed up higher on the plants. They don't like to dig in thesnow for food. They take the easy to reach food first. Thustracks in the snow are an important sign to watch for. Mousedamage is usually not correctable. You may not see root feedingdamage to stock till spring, so over baiting is the bestsolution. Care should be taken that the baits are only availableto the target varmit. Viburnums are the most attractive,versatile, adaptable shrubs for any landscape. They can be usedas hedges or screens and in mixed perennial/shrub borders. Theycan also stand alone as specimen plants. They usually take theform of shrubs, but some species can become small ornamentaltrees. They range in size from the Dwarf American Cranberrybushat 2 feet tall by 2 feet wide, to the Siebold at over 15 feettall. We feel that Viburnums are plants that have great winterinterest. All Viburnums have white to pink flowers in thespring. The foliage is large, attractive and often texturedleaves. Some viburnums have fragrant flowers that are producedin snowball shaped clusters in April. Their flower clusters canconsist of pink buds, which develop into white flowers. Somefruits are red and turn black with age usually bitter tasting.Leaves can be glossy, dark green and turn a burgundy color inthe fall. Midsummer berries are an important food source forbirds. Viburnums have colorful red to purple leaves. Someviburnums can become medium-size trees, especially if they arepruned. Viburnums excel as specimen plants or as anchors inmixed borders. You won't find a more versatile group of shrubsfor hedges or for massing in groups, since viburnums hold theirown in every season. Some viburnums, such as Prague viburnum'Pragense', are evergreen. Others, such as leatherleaf viburnum,are semi-evergreen in colder climates, losing their leaves whentemperatures dip below 10 degrees. The great feature of Viburnums is that they are adaptabe. Whilethey would like full sun and moderately watered, well-...
...rainedrich soils, they will grow very well in part shade, and in claysoils. Diseases and pests rarely attack them and they don't tendto have to be spayed. My kids have run over them with brush hogsand they survived. Their fibrous root system makes themtransplant easily. In your search for a good, hardy shrub with winter interestconsider the Viburnum family. Viburnums have long been popular garden plants, known for theirwhite, sometimes fragrant spring flowers, and their fall color.But it's the Asian viburnums that have so far been mostnoteworthy. Perhaps the most liked viburnums are the Burkwoodviburnum (Viburnum x burkwoodii), and the Korean spice viburnum(V. carlesii), both of which fill your landscape with pleasantodors in the spring. Also popular is the doublefile viburnum (V.plicatum f. tomentosum), valued for its layered habit, fallfoliage, and clusters of red fruits. Viburnum acerifolium(Maple-leafed viburnum) Although I wouldn't plant a landscapewithout viburnums, I have a special fondness for several of ournative viburnums. They may not provide the great flowerfragrance of their Asian counterparts, but I love them not onlyfor their rich fall colors ,but for that fact they help attractand feed so many of our wild birds that liven up our landscapedurring the long winter. In addition, several are great forurban conditions. They require only corrective pruning, andseldom commonly suffer from pests or diseases. I would be hardpressed to say which viburnum I would choose if I could onlyhave one. Viburnums are moist woodland plants. In nature they are foundalong steam banks from Long Island to Florida. When you come toour 5275 West Swamp Rd. location ask us to show some in theirnative habitat that we found along our stream bank. These plantsperform well under normal landscape conditions. I especiallylike the floral display in the spring and these viburnums thatbear fruit in the fall. Winterthur has great red leaves andabundant fruit in the fall. This cultivar needs a crosspollinator such as viburnum nudum. If you want things to do inthe winter this is when I cut back our viburnums. Pressingissues of the other seasons always leaves my viburnums to standalone untouched. It is mid winter and I always enjoy trimmingback these plants then. I see all the nests that the birds haverbuilt and can work without disturbing their families. It seemsto me that it is easier to cut back and trim now for I alwaysfeel bad in the summer when I trim out green foliage. Whentrimming foliage I always guilty cutting greens off of theplants. Wintertime frees me from those demons. You can see moreout plants at the following web site http://www.seedlingsrus.com
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