Date: Fri 22-Nov-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: CAROLK

Illustration: C

Location: A14

Quick Words:

Gardener-Housekeeping-winter

Full Text:

(Gardener column on winterizing gardens/lawns, 11/22/96)

Suburban Gardener-

Garden Housekeeping

By Anthony C. Bleach

Sometimes gardening is as interesting as cleaning out the garage. But clearing

out the garden is really sanitation. If you leave all the plant debris in the

garden all winter long, you are also leaving thousands of insect egg cases and

disease spores. Clear up or cut down any leaves that are brown or yellow.

Herbaceous perennials like hostas or peonies that die right down to the ground

should be well marked with sturdy wooden or permanent metal markers. Plastic

labels just disappear or break over the winter.

Perennials that maintain basal foliage should be left alone. The basal leaves,

in plants like day lilies, protect the vulnerable crown. Cut off the old

leaves in spring.

Examples of these kinds are salvias, penstemons and scabiosas. But many

perennials don't turn brown despite hard frosts. Catmint is still looking

great and could soon be covered with snow. When spring comes, the matted

tangle can be cut away to make way for a new crown to grow.

Bearded iris still has some green leaves and will do so until Christmas, but

it is important to cut back all leaves, green or not. They house the larvae of

the iris borer, one of the most lethal pests in the garden. This is the best

method of control.

Woody plants like lavender, sage or perovskia can be cut back about a quarter

to a third, to true them up and save them somewhat from the wind. If they are

in a windy spot, a covering of evergreen branches would save them more.

Herbaceous evergreens, like hellebores or iberis, remain green through the

winter. They form flower buds in the fall, so it would be a big mistake to cut

them back. Protect them now with branches and cut them back after blooming in

late spring and early summer.

In late winter you will have to chip away snow from the hellebores as they can

bloom as early as late February. But keep the covers on the iberis until late

March.

Ornamental grasses are starkly dramatic with high seed heads streaming like

the flags of Teutonic Knights. Cut them back to 12 inches in late March. Red

hot pokers are being discovered again and need special treatment. Tie up the

leaves with twine to keep the water out of the crown before the end of this

month. When spring comes, cut leaves back to the base. They come from

semi-arid regions of the world. It is an awesome sight to see them wild on the

high veldt in southern Africa.

Spring-blooming shrubs are never pruned in the fall as they bloom on the

previous year's wood. By pruning now, you would be cutting off next year's

flowers. Shrubs like P.G. Hydrangea, which bloom in summer, form buds on the

current year's wood, so they can be pruned now or as late as March. Buddleias

and Caryopteris are usually left until springtime to give some structure and

then they are cut back hard.

Leave roses alone. Stephen Scanniello, a great rosarian writer, "It's a

tradition in many gardens to cut the hybrid tea roses to an even height in

early autumn. Often this sacrifices many beautiful flowers. I don't quite

understand the logic of this ritual. Nothing is gained, apart from making the

garden look tidier. These roses will only have to be pruned again in the

spring."

Stephen also recommends piling up woodchips to a foot deep over roses, not

soil. He has found the prolonged contact over the winter with wet soil can

cause canes to die.

Young or recently transplanted broadleaf evergreens and roses can be sprayed

with an anti-dessicant spray to prevent them from losing precious moisture in

the freezing winter winds. This has to be done on a warm day, and must be done

again after Christmas.

Around Christmastime, put a winter mulch over the garden. Not more than an

inch. And then the evergreen boughs. This will keep the ground frozen, and

prevent the alternate freezing and thawing that heaves plants out of the

ground.

(Anthony C. Bleach coordinates the horticulture degree program at Naugatuck

Valley Community-Technical College in Waterbury.)