Conifer lovers living in middle lane Russia, they dream of evergreen decoration of the adjacent plot. Despite the frost resistance of conifers, young seedlings need protection on winter period. How we cover the conifers for the winter, and other ways to protect against ice and snow, we will consider in this article.
Why cover winter-hardy crops?
Almost all coniferous plantations from trees to low-growing shrubs are characterized by unpretentiousness and resistance to frost. Both thuja and spruce attract the attention of gardeners not only with their beautiful appearance, but also with their resistance to diseases, pests, and also exude a wonderful coniferous aroma. In addition, they are excellent antiseptics.
Out of love for decorative look plants, it is planted along the alleys, near administrative buildings as well as in parks and gardens. But, despite such positive characteristics, coniferous plants need shelter for the winter. Namely, young seedlings that are not yet 3-4 years old are considered weak and need protection. Here are two aspects that adversely affect evergreen crops:
- hard frost wind;
- spring sun rays reflecting off the snow.
Why wind and sunlight? The fact is that the winter wind causes severe dryness of the branches, and from a lack of moisture they freeze, break off and die. If you watched a beautiful spruce with a withered shoot and yellowed needles, then you should know that this happened due to a cold and strong wind. If the needles of trees are able to withstand severe frost, then she does not like the wind.
Everyone knows that the thaw at the end of February and March is characterized by a bright sun, the rays of which are reflected on the white snow. At this time, sap flow has not yet begun, and shrubs are still weak and vulnerable. Then pine needles and green thuja legs under bright light can get sunburned. Therefore, there is a need to shelter the culture for the winter, not to mention the break of branches under the weight of adhering snow.
Protection for medium height shrubs
To cover for the winter coniferous bushes that have not yet reached the age of 3, we first bend the branches to the trunk of the tree. To do this, we take a twine, preferably green or the same color as the trunk, and, without pressing hard, lightly wrap the cord so that the paws of the stems do not stick out. After that, we take a non-woven material or spunbond, and determine the size of the future bag. Then we fix the seam with a stapler.
To date, manufacturers offer ready-made bags made of agrotex various sizes. Spruce and pine need autumn shelter only in the first year of life.
How to cover shrubs and young trees of medium height so as not to damage the crown and preserve the integrity of the culture as much as possible? For this, a wooden frame is constructed from bars of medium thickness.
Advice! “You can make a frame from an elastic plastic mesh which is very convenient due to its flexibility.
It is better not to install an iron or wire frame, as the metal conducts cold and can cause frostbite of branches.
After preparing the walls of the frame, we wrap it with a covering material. It is better not to use polyethylene for these purposes, as it collects moisture. The moisture accumulated under the film in the winter cold freezes and does not contribute to thermal insulation or leads to decay and mold. In addition, polyethylene may not withstand low temperatures and burst, allowing the penetration of snow and cold wind. To protect coniferous plantations for the winter, it is better to use:
- burlap;
- spunbond;
- kraft paper;
- agrofibre;
- lutrasin;
- agrospan.
Any of the listed materials, except kraft paper, can be stapled to wooden frame. You can wind the insulation around the mesh, connecting the ends into a single seam.
Any agrofibre should be of medium thickness for air to enter (sometimes they leave a small gap or do not fix the top), but not tear from strong gusts of wind. After winter, shelters should be removed in early April or late March, when it gets warmer and sap flow begins. When to open the insulation you will be prompted by moderate melting of snow and air temperature close to 0 ° C.
If your pets have reached the age of 4, and you did not cover them, but only pulled them with twine, then we do the following frauds. At the end of February, on the south side of the garden, we install an awning from any available covering material. Our goal is to create a shadow curtain so that the conifers do not get sunburn from the blinding sun.
Protection for undersized shrubs
If your juniper or cedar is too young, or you are a fan of undersized crops, then the amount of insulation work is significantly reduced. It is enough to stock up on spruce branches in the forest and cover them with seedlings in the form of cone-shaped houses. Zealous owners prefer to install plastic containers on top of the spruce branches for reliable fixation and maintaining the temperature regime.
The industrial business satisfies any demand, and therefore the Moscow region is provided with covering material for planting in full. It is sold in the form of cone-shaped bags with a pulling rope at the bottom. So that the ends of the coniferous paws do not turn yellow, it is enough to use special bags.
Agronomist advice! “For young conifers with a weak root system, it is necessary to sprinkle the place at the roots with sawdust or mulch before sheltering for the winter.”
Extra care
Despite the winter hardiness and unpretentiousness of the culture, mineral dressing will not hurt. Especially for freshly planted crops in the fall, so that they can take root until spring. The plant must be strong and disease resistant. How to feed pets in anticipation of cold weather?
We will describe several steps leading to successful acclimatization and overwintering:
- we water in autumn 50-60 cm deep, not only near the root, but also in the radius of the root system. With heavy autumn rains, the procedure is canceled;
- near-stem mulching with organic matter (needles, pine bark, sawdust, spruce branches, hay, etc.) is poured in 1–2 layers, not thicker, so that rodents do not make a nest;
- feeding with biohumus and compost will support the vitality of conifers, as well as the introduction of magnesium with dolomite flour;
- nitrogen in large quantities and manure can harm plantings;
- in the spring at a temperature of +10 ° C, it is recommended to carry out treatment with biostimulants: epin, HB 101, Zircon. Sometimes it is enough to spray the crown with warm water and hide from the sun.
It is much more expedient to take care of the conifers than to restore them as a result of a careless attitude.
Not a single site can do without coniferous crops. It is they who give scenic view territories in winter time when all the deciduous trees are bare, and the flower beds are empty. There are so many varieties and types of coniferous crops that you can create entire compositions, the decorative effect of which will be high in any season. But there is one caveat: not all coniferous crops endure winters equally. If the seedlings were brought from Europe, where the climate is much milder than Russian and even Ukrainian, there is a possibility of severe damage to the crown and freezing of the roots. Let's take a closer look at how to avoid this.
You can reduce the likelihood of winter troubles to zero already at the stage of buying seedlings. If you purchase thujas, junipers in domestic nurseries, where they have grown for several years in the same climatic conditions as in your area, then problems with winter hardiness will disappear. Weak cultures freeze out already in the first year after planting in the nursery, so they simply do not reach the shelves.
But more often we buy planting material on the market, where it is impossible to check whether the seller gave accurate information about the growing conditions of the seedlings. And even if all the plants were grown in the local climate, there is no guarantee that they were not overfed with nitrogen fertilizers to accelerate growth. And an excess of nitrogen significantly reduces the immunity of crops and leads to freezing.
Therefore, the owners themselves must take care of the conifers, preparing them for hibernation at the end of autumn.
Works great in small spaces different types dwarf pine, which stands out for its winter hardiness and ability to withstand snow loads
Among the crops that are most damaged in winter, the leaders are thueviki, fir (except for Siberian and Vichy), metasequoia, cypress and cypress trees. In areas with a harsh climate, it is better not to plant these crops or tune in to the fact that every winter they will have to be protected from frost.
In the list of the most unpretentious coniferous plants, are:
- Ate (except Eastern and Brewer);
- Cedars;
- Larch (except Western);
- Pines (except Thunberg);
- Junipers (except Turkestan and Zeravshan);
- Hemlock;
- Western thuja.
Other varieties need to be selected taking into account the length and severity of your winters.
Rules for preparing plants for wintering
Autumn moisture-charging watering
Despite sub-zero temperatures, life processes in coniferous crops do not stop, but only slow down their course. Therefore, trees and shrubs must be prepared for winter, taking into account this circumstance.
Before the onset of the first frosts (approximately the end of November), spend the last abundant watering of the conifers. Pour 2 buckets of water under each crop up to a meter, and from 3 to 5 above a meter. In this way, you will provide the plants with a supply of moisture for the pre-spring period. At the end of February, when the sun begins to bake, the coniferous crown comes to life and requires nutrition and moisture from the roots. And if it is not enough in the soil, then frost binds the earth to a great depth. The roots cannot take up water, so the needles become dry and easily burned by the scorching rays.
Irrigation is especially necessary:
- one-year-old and two-year-old seedlings that have not developed a strong root system;
- rare breeds of conifers with poor winter hardiness;
- plants, the crown of which was formed and sheared in this season.
If there are coniferous trees grown using the bonsai technique or with a topiary haircut on the site, they need a solid shelter from the snow
Phosphorus-potassium supplements
In order for the young branches of conifers to mature by the beginning of winter, you need to properly feed the plants. Starting in August, exclude all fertilizers that contain nitrogen. It provokes the rapid growth of green mass, and this will greatly weaken the immune system. It is useful in September to add a mixture of potassium and phosphorus to the soil. Thus, you will accelerate the lignification of branches and strengthen the root system.
Mulching young plants
A necessary condition for a healthy wintering for rare and non-hardy coniferous varieties is mulching. Perfect option mulch - tree bark. It is large, makes it possible for oxygen to flow to the roots and, when the temperature rises, does not prevent the release of excess vapors from the ground. With this mulching, the plants will never dry out, as is the case with sawdust.
Adult conifers or those that were bought at a local nursery do not need to be sprinkled with mulch. They will cope with the winter without shelter.
Trouble during the winter months
If you have taken into account the previous tips, it means that in winter your pets will feel quite comfortable, but the care does not end there. Winter weather brings many surprises, and they must be dealt with in time.
Surprise one: heavy snow
Sometimes heavy snowfalls occur in winter. Wet snow settles on conifers with a heavy load, causing breaks in skeletal branches and breaking off thin ones. If your pet is covered with a sticky and wet snow cap, do not try to shake it off by tilting the branches or shaking the trunk. At this time, the bark and branches are so fragile that you will provoke cracking. It is necessary to wrap the end of the board with a soft cloth and pry each branch of an adult tree with it, gently swinging it up and down. Shake off all branches in the access zone of your growth with a stiff brush or broom, leading from the tips to the trunk.
The crown of spherical and columnar varieties can be saved by tying it with twine. Just do not pinch the branches, so as not to disturb the circulation of juices. The twine should tightly press the crown to the trunk, but not squeeze.
The crown tied with twine becomes compact and dense, without letting snow into the middle, which helps to survive the winter without breaking
Surprise two: freezing rain
With a contrast of day and night temperatures, tree branches can become covered with an ice crust. It has enough weight, tilting its paws and threatening the safety of the plant. You will not be able to shake off such beauty, as it tightly sticks to the needles. In this case, the props that you used to support in the summer will help out. fruit trees. Substitute them under any branches that are bent too low to keep them from breaking. It remains to wait for a sunny day, so that the ice slides under the rays by itself.
Surprise three: gusty wind
Some areas experience squally winds in winter. It is not dangerous for low-growing, dwarf trees or creeping shrubs, but vertical arborvitae, tall cedars or spruces can easily be uprooted (especially on light sandy loamy soils).
If weather forecasters have announced a storm warning, make sure by placing streamers. They are of two types: with fixation to stakes and anchor type.
The essence of the first option is that thick stakes are driven into the ground near the tree from four sides, the height of which is more than half the height of the trunk. A twine is stretched from each support to the trunk. It is not tied on bare bark, but the trunk is pre-wrapped with roofing material or a wooden block is placed at the place of tying. True, it is not always possible to drive stakes into the frozen ground in winter, therefore, conifers have been strengthened in this way since autumn, especially recently transplanted large-sized ones.
With the help of an anchor stretch, you can not only protect the tree from gusts of wind, but make it grow strictly vertically.
The second type - anchor - provides for the installation of steel braces, which are attached to the tree at one end, and pulled onto the anchor with the other. Anchors should be located outside the root system. To protect the barrel from steel, it is necessary to wrap the tree with thick burlap, and use wooden lining on top of it.
Surprise Four: The February Sun
Even the most persistent conifers run the risk of freezing or, conversely, getting burned by the end of winter. At this time, the weather is unstable, and often during the days the sun shines so brightly that it provokes an early awakening of the roots. They begin to actively feed the crown, expecting an early warmth, and then the so-called return frosts may come. You can’t stop sap flow, but you can cover the crown with a thick non-woven material, like lutrasil, or at least put linen potato bags on young seedlings.
To prevent rapid thawing of the earth, mulch it with sawdust. Their white color will reflect the sun's rays, and the roots will not wake up so quickly. But when a stable heat sets in, the sawdust must be removed immediately so that the plant does not rot.
Without shelter with lutrasil or other non-woven material, the crown of many rare conifers may not withstand the test of severe frosts.
Another danger is fraught with the sun's rays, which burn tender young needles. Therefore, at the end of winter, all annual seedlings and exotic conifers are covered from the south with shields or the crown is completely wrapped in burlap.
It is undesirable to protect conifers from the sun with non-woven material, as it accumulates heat and can increase the drying of the needles.
To protect against the February sun, you can use burlap or agrofibre, which creates soft twilight inside the shelter and prevents the needles from drying out
Don't worry if some plants turn yellow needles in winter. This is how junipers and hemlocks react to cold. In the spring the color will be restored.
If you carried out all the security measures on time, the conifers will quickly recover from hibernation and will delight you with their decorative effect.
Each plant is unique in its own way and needs an individual approach to care. Some of them are not whimsical, while others, on the contrary, require the knowledge and skills to implement good care. Most plants need to be carefully prepared for wintering. Many mistakenly believe that conifers do not require special care in winter. This is partly true, they are frost-resistant and perfectly withstand temperatures up to -30º. Why, in this case, cover coniferous plants? The greatest danger to conifers is not air temperature, but bright sunlight and wind, especially in late winter and early spring. Burns may appear on the trees during this period of time, which can cause irreparable harm to the plant. The most demanding, among conifers, in preparation for winter is thuja. How to cover a thuja for the winter is an important question, let's try to figure it out.
How to cover thuja for the winter
All activities aimed at protecting the thuja in winter are recommended to begin at the end of autumn before the first snow and frost appear. If the thuja is located near the structure in the shade and is a frost-resistant variety, then it can be covered for the winter in mid-February. Young plants in the first couple of years after planting, regardless of variety and frost resistance, need mandatory shelter.
Video "Saving conifers from yellowing"
Ways to hide thuja
There are many different methods that allow you to protect thuja from exposure to ultraviolet rays and wind. Next, we will talk in more detail about how to cover conifers for the winter. The following types of shelters are very popular among gardeners:
fabric
Fabric shelters can be made on your own or purchased at a farm store. Homemade shelter for conifers can be made from gauze or burlap. To warm the thuja with gauze, take material with a width of at least 50 cm and cut into strips. Their length should be slightly more than the height of the tree itself. When determining the length of the strip, the splendor of the crown is taken into account. Then all the strips are fastened together and tied into a bundle on one side to make a kind of bag. Instead of gauze, you can use any "breathable" white material. Fabric shelters need to be made a little loose, because over time, a slight shrinkage of the fabric is possible.
Garden shops offer more modern solution for wood insulation. Non-woven materials are very popular among gardeners: agrotherm, lutrasil and spandbond. They are easy to use, easy to clean, dry quickly and are reusable.
Paper
To create such shelters, wrapping paper is used. They take a piece of material and wrap the crown of the tree in a spiral from top to bottom. When doing work, lightly press the branches to the trunk. The strips of paper must overlap. The resulting structure is fixed on the plant with a stapler or a tight rope.
Frame
Frame structures are suitable for warming young plants. Frames can be made independently or bought at a garden store. To build a protective frame, you will need to take thick slats and wire, as well as bars, thin plastic pipes and metal corner. If the thuja is small, then the structure can be made on 3 supports, and if there are more, then on 4. The frame legs are driven into the ground by 20 cm. Their length should be at least 2/3 of the height of the tree itself. If there is a large number of improvised means, then it is possible to build a structure taking into account the capture of the top of the crown. The fixation of the material on the frame is carried out using transverse and connecting racks. After the frame is built, a bag is put on it. The main disadvantage of this design is that it is constantly necessary to remove the accumulated snow.
Shield
This option is the simplest and is able to protect the thuja only from direct sunlight. The installation of wooden shields is carried out on the sunny side of the tree.
Photo "Ways to shelter thuja for the winter"
Winter care for conifers
After talking about how to cover the thuja for the winter, move on to the features of caring for the plant in the winter. In caring for evergreen trees, you should not lose vigilance even in winter. After a heavy snowfall, the trees must be cleared of accumulated snow mass. If a large amount of snow accumulates around the trunk, it must be cleared.
In early spring, do not rush to remove shelters from trees, as they can get sunburned. You can remove the shelter from the thuja after the weather normalizes. Ephedra are recommended to be planted near the fence and buildings. This arrangement favorably affects the plant in the spring.
Tui sheltered for the winter also decorate the yard
In winter, wrapped thujas can look very unattractive. In order for the site to look attractive, you can show a little imagination. Shelter structures can be built similar to a wigwam. On paper shelters, you can draw different pictures or funny faces.
Due to their characteristics, coniferous trees are loved by many summer residents. Because these plants all year round remain green, the garden looks elegant in any season, and the variety of crown shapes allows you to create original landscape compositions on the site.
Caring for coniferous plants is not difficult; only rare, single varieties need special care. Therefore, sheltering conifers for the winter should be performed only in some cases. How to arrange conifers on the site and how to insulate conifers for the winter, you will learn on this page.
Even conifers alone in the garden are already a guarantee of the beauty of the site. The very appearance of these plants, their leaves-needles and crown shapes provide a special, "universal" image, combined with any shape and line, any color scheme and various styles.
However, the most valuable conifers in garden design is that they are easy care plants and add beauty to the site in any season of the year. They make the garden all-season. Not every plant can boast a combination of all these qualities at once. The design of a garden with coniferous plants looks especially original, because all conifers are different, among them there are stunningly spectacular specimens. Most conifers can be safely planted in your garden, and with minimal care, they will delight you all year round.
It is necessary to arrange coniferous plants in such a way as to emphasize the planning lines of the site.
You need to place them in places where the appearance and shape of your conifers will emphasize the shape of the relief, the shape of structures and structures on the landscape, the configuration of paths and other landscape objects.
It is good to place them at the entrance to the house and to the site.
Look at the photo: conifers in the garden will look good next to stairs and retaining walls.
You can place them at the forks and bends of the paths and along the perimeter of the site.
Just like trees and shrubs, they will be beautiful next to gazebos and next to recreation areas.
A great place for conifers - on lawns as "soloists" and in garden modules.
The design solution is the location within the "coniferous gardens".
A good place for conifers is in the "dark" corners of the site (with a lack of lighting or "inconvenient" for development).
One conifer can be placed in the center of the front area of the site, from the side of the entrance to the house. A path (path) should be organized to this place. It will be an ephedra "for the New Year."
Ephedra are especially good as hedges.
Coniferous crown shape (pine, larch, spruce, etc.)
Below is a table that describes the crown shapes of conifers, including spruce crown shape, larch crown shape, pine crown shape, juniper, yew, microbiota and cypress.
Table "Crown shape of coniferous plants":
|
coniferous plants |
Characteristic |
| Norway spruce | Pyramidal crown, height up to 30 m, there are many forms of common spruce, they have different heights, shapes and shade of the crown |
| Prickly blue spruce | Narrow pyramidal crown, height up to 20m, there are various forms |
| Nest-shaped spruce | One of the forms of common spruce, open-drooping crown, height up to 1.5 m, diameter - up to 3 m |
| Spruce Konika | Narrow-conical crown, dense, height up to 2 m |
| Scotch pine | Oval-conical crown, height 20-30 m, needles with a bluish tint |
| Black pine | Spreading crown, height up to 40 m, dark green needles |
| Weymouth pine | Columnar crown, branches start low from the ground, up to 40 m tall, needles are soft, bluish-green, 5 needles in a bunch |
| mountain pine | Fan-shaped crown forms, there are also shrub multi-stemmed forms, height no more than 4 m |
| Thuja western | Pyramidal crown, height up to 12m, there are many forms of different heights, crown types and different shades of needle color: bluish, variegated, golden |
| Thuja spherical | One of the forms of thuja western, spherical crown, height up to 2.5 m |
| Common juniper | Conical crown, height up to 5 m. There are a large number of different forms in appearance that are very different from the original |
| Red cedar | Retracted, mute egg-shaped crown, height up to 30 m, bluish-green needles, there are many forms |
| Juniper horizontal | Open crown, height up to 0.5 m, diameter up to 1.6 m, silver-blue needles |
| Juniper Cossack | Semi-spread crown, unlike the horizontal juniper, the branches are directed slightly upwards, height up to 1.5 m, diameter up to 3 m |
| Cypress pea | Pyramidal crown, height up to 30 m Creates a "southern" flavor, other forms are unstable in our climate. Requires shade |
| Larch | Cone-shaped crown, height up to 40 m |
| Yew berry | Egg-cylindrical crown, height up to 5 m, diameter up to 5 m |
| Microbiota cross-pair | Open crown, height up to 1 m, diameter up to 2 m, does not tolerate transplanting well, adult plants cannot be transplanted |
When choosing conifers for your garden, first of all, you need to pay attention to the appearance, height, crown shape, type and shade of needles. What kind of crown have various conifers, you can see in the table.
Care of coniferous plants: top dressing, watering, pruning
Conifers require the most minimal care of all garden plants.Feeding coniferous plants. Be sure to feed the first time in early spring, on melted snow, with a special fertilizer for coniferous plants. If your site has poor soil, you can repeat this procedure in June.
Watering coniferous plants. During the season, you can not water, usually coniferous plants have enough rain. However, if there is a strong heat and drought in the summer, water it 2-3 times.
Pruning of coniferous plants. It is necessary to cut off with a strong thickening, if this is reflected in appearance plants. You need to trim if you want to shape your conifers specifically, for a "designer" purpose. Can be pruned to induce branching to make your conifers more "fluffy".
Preparing conifers for winter: how to cover conifers
No conifers are afraid of frost. But some of them, especially the "varietal" conifers, are afraid of the strong sun and the withering wind. They do not freeze, but dry up, “burn out”. After that, they recover for a long time, and in some cases die completely. Preparing conifers for winter is easier than preparing deciduous trees or shrubs. Before covering conifers for the winter, sew ordinary spunbond or lutrasil covers in the form of bags with ties at the bottom. Sew covers, having previously measured the height and width of the plants. But you can’t just put on covers: under the weight of snow on the covers, the tops of the conifers can bend or even break. Therefore, beforehand, until the ground is frozen, drive in a high bar next to each plant (just above the plant itself), and only then can you put on a cover. The beam will prevent the cover from touching the top of the tree.
For low spherical conifers, you need to use cucumber arcs placed crosswise above the conifer.
How to prepare and insulate conifers for the winter
Before preparing conifers for winter, sew covers for arborvitae, cypresses, all types of junipers, for Konika spruce and all miniature conifers. Ordinary and, pines, larches do not need shelter, but only 3 years after planting. So all newly planted conifers, regardless of species, will have to be covered for 3 years. Remove all shelters when the snow completely melts. But everything happens during the winter. Shelter can be blown away by the wind. The shelter may be too thin for a particular place (sunny), a sunny place and a small amount of land under the conifer may coincide, for example, it is planted in a garden module. One way or another, but the conifer can burn. If about 80-100 percent of the crown is burnt (it is yellow-orange), then no coniferous plant is restored. It will need to be replaced. If about 50-80 percent of the crown is burnt, juniper and spruce "konika" will not recover, it will recover in a year, black pine - in 2 years. If less than 50 percent of the crown is burned, the juniper will recover in a year, the Konika spruce will partially recover in 2 years, the pine and thuja will recover by autumn.
Features of the life of conifers in the garden
Conifers can “not take root” in rare cases, you may not have met any of the four requirements given below:
1. Conifers depend on the cardinal points. This must be taken into account when buying and landing. When buying in a nursery, pay attention to how the conifer grows, where it has a north side. Tie a ribbon in there. This also applies to plants in containers. They are unlikely to be constantly turned, especially large specimens. When you brought the conifer to your garden, orient it correctly, turn the seedling around the cardinal points. When planting, you need to position the plant so that the north side of the seedling (the side with the ribbon) coincides with the north direction on your site.
2. One of the features of the life of coniferous plants in the garden is that their roots love oxygen. Therefore, when planting, the earth needs to be dug up 2-3 times in order to saturate it with oxygen.
3. Autumn is not suitable for planting conifers.
4. Conifers are afraid of such a natural phenomenon as “ice rain”. So hiding in any case will not hurt.
But there is a group of ornamental crops that need to be taken care of after frost, in spring. Freezing rain, heavy snowfalls and bright spring sun can spoil the crown of conifers, or even burn plants to the ground. Therefore, it is so important when preparing plants for winter to provide them with shelter to protect them from snow, ice, and sunburn.
Shelter dates for conifers for the winter
All activities for the shelter of conifers can be carried out both in autumn and in the first half of winter. Under such shelters, conifers will be safe from any weather surprises, and the gardener's soul will be calm all winter.
In order to overwinter, plants must be strong and healthy. Therefore, it is so important to pay attention not only to winter preparation, but also to proper fit and caring for conifers:
Coniferous shelter from snow and ice
After long snowfalls junipers and does not look the best - individual branches bend to the ground, or even break completely. It is good when it is possible to shake off the trees immediately after the end of the snowfall, but often this is not possible.
Shelter of thuja and juniper
- To prevent damage to the crown, with the help of a special wide garden bandage I tie the crowns of trees.
- I start tying from the top and move down so that the winding does not fly off from the wind.
- After wrapping with bandages, I put 3-4 metal rods around the conifers - they should be the same height as the plant or slightly higher. In the spring they can not be pulled out - they will not be noticeable in the crown.
- I wrap the rods with a plastic coarse mesh. Such a net is an excellent basis for further shelter from the spring sun and additional insurance against breaking the crown.
- For varieties, the shelter is limited to wrapping the crown with a bandage and attaching the mesh to the rods - it does not burn in the spring sun, and is not afraid of frost.
How to make DIY garden bandages:
- take the usual covering material, it is better to take it with a 60th thickness indicator,
- cut it into strips for winding.
I have one more contender for protection from snowfalls - dwarf pine "Spielberg". It has thin branches with fluffy paws at the end, which break off at the slightest snow load. I bind it very tightly.
Coniferous shelter from sunburn
All varieties juniper , fir tree and fir "Silberloke" over a plastic mesh I wrap it with burlap or unnecessary sheets, because they burn out first in the spring sun, especially horses.
For small specimens, like horses and fir, you can limit yourself to a few rods - dig them around the perimeter of the crown and wrap them with burlap.
- Covering material such as spunbond, agril, lutrasil, etc. they are not suitable as protection from the sun, because according to the assurances of the manufacturers, they perfectly let the sun through, which means that the conifers under it will burn out immediately.
- Do not miss the sun and unnecessary old blackout curtains. In winter, I sew them and sheets several at a time so that I can throw them on in one fell swoop and fasten them.
For more information on protecting coniferous plants from burnout in winter, see the video:
Coniferous shelter on the trunk
Coniferous trees on the stem deserve special pre-winter attention. Depending on the size of the crown, I cover them in different ways.
- At the same time, everyone grafted conifers there is weakness- grafting, I definitely wrap it with a fragment of covering material and firmly fix it with ropes. If you conscientiously tie up the place of vaccination, then no frosts are terrible for standard conifers.
- The second danger awaiting plants is breaking off the crown from the trunk as a result of the accumulation of a fair amount of snow. The crowns of grafted conifers cannot hold a lot of weight, as a result they break at the grafting site.
- So, it has a wide crown spruce blue on the stem. I put metal rods around the perimeter, I pull a fine-meshed metal mesh, and I put burlap on it. It turns out, no matter how much snow falls, it does not touch the crown, and all the weight falls on the grid. I also hide pine bonsai .
- Recognized star of the garden - fir on the stem "Icebreaker" afraid of both the sun and the weight of snow at the same time, so I lower a wooden box on it, put a “roof” on top.
- Small crowns of standard conifers, for example, larch , I wrap it completely with covering material, including the crown and the trunk itself to the ground - in my experience, she is somewhat afraid of frost.
Photo: fir shelter
Conifer shelter (video)
For more information on how to cover thuja, junipers, horsetail, fir for the winter and protect conifers from the sun, the severity of snow and freezing rain, see my video
