Preparing conifers for winter. Shelter of conifers for the winter. Hibernation of conifers: how to protect plants from frost How to cover a small Christmas tree for the winter

Not a single area is complete without coniferous crops. They are the ones who give a picturesque appearance to the area in winter, 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 value of which will be high in any season. But there is one caveat: not all coniferous crops withstand winter 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 purchasing seedlings. If you purchase thujas and junipers from domestic nurseries, where they grew for several years in the same climatic conditions as in your area, then problems with winter hardiness will disappear. Weak crops freeze out already in the first year after planting in the nursery, so they simply do not reach the shelves.

But more often we purchase planting material at the market, where it is impossible to check whether the seller provided 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 excess 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.

In small areas, different types of dwarf pine coexist perfectly, which stands out for its winter hardiness and ability to withstand snow loads

Among the crops that are more damaged than others in winter, the leaders are arborvitae, firs (except Siberian and Wicha), metasequoias, cypresses and cypress trees. In areas with a harsh climate, it is better not to plant these crops or be prepared for the fact that they will have to be protected from frost every winter.

The list of the most unpretentious coniferous plants includes:

• Spruce (except Eastern and Brewer);
• Cedars;
• Larch (except Western);
• Pines (except Thunberg);
• Junipers (except Turkestan and Zeravshan);
• Hemlock;
• Western thuja.

The remaining varieties need to be selected taking into account the duration and severity of your winters.

Rules for preparing plants for wintering

Autumn water-recharging irrigation

Despite sub-zero temperatures, life processes in coniferous crops do not stop, but only slow down. Therefore, trees and shrubs must be prepared for winter taking this circumstance into account.

Before the onset of the first frost (around the end of November), water the conifers one last time. For each crop up to a meter, pour 2 buckets of water, and above a meter - from 3 to 5. 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 get hot, the crown of conifers comes to life and requires nutrition and moisture from the roots. And if there is not enough of it in the soil, then frost binds the soil to a greater depth. The roots cannot take water, so the needles become dry and are easily burned by scorching rays.

Watering is especially necessary:

• one-year and two-year-old seedlings that have not developed a strong root system;
• rare breeds of conifers with poor winter hardiness;
• plants whose crowns were shaped and trimmed this season.

If there are coniferous trees on the site, grown using the bonsai technique or with topiary cutting, they require thorough shelter from the snow

Phosphorus-potassium fertilizers

In order for the young branches of conifers to ripen by the beginning of winter, you need to properly feed the plants. Starting in August, eliminate all fertilizers that contain nitrogen. It provokes rapid growth of green mass, and this will greatly weaken the immune system. It is useful to add a mixture of potassium and phosphorus to the soil in September. By doing this, you will accelerate the lignification of the branches and strengthen the root system.

Mulching young plants

A necessary condition for healthy wintering for rare and non-winter-hardy varieties of conifers is mulching. The ideal mulch option is tree bark. It is large, allows oxygen to flow to the roots and, when the temperature rises, does not prevent excess vapors from escaping from the ground. With this mulching, the plants will never dry out, as is the case with sawdust.

Mature conifers or those purchased at a local nursery do not need to be sprinkled with mulch. They can cope with winter without shelter.

Troubles during the winter months

If you took into account the previous tips, then your pets will feel quite comfortable in winter, but the care does not end there. Winter weather brings many surprises, and you need to deal with them in time.

Surprise one: heavy snow

Sometimes there are heavy snowfalls in winter. Wet snow settles heavily on the conifers, causing skeletal branches to break and thin ones to break off. 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. You need to wrap the end of the board with a soft cloth and pry it over each branch of an adult tree, gently swinging it up and down. Brush off all branches in the access zone of your growth with a stiff brush or broom, moving from the tips to the trunk.

The crown of spherical and columnar varieties can be protected by tying it with twine. Just do not pinch the branches so as not to disrupt the circulation of juices. The twine should press the crown tightly against the trunk, but not squeeze.

The crown, tied with twine, becomes compact and dense, preventing snow from getting into the middle, which helps to survive the winter without breaking.

Surprise two: freezing rain

With the contrast between 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 won’t be able to shake off such beauty, as it sticks tightly to the needles. In this case, the supports that you used in the summer to support fruit trees will come to the rescue. Place them under any branches that have bent too low to prevent them from breaking. All that remains is to wait for a sunny day for the ice to slide under the rays on its own.

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 thujas, tall cedars or spruce trees can easily be uprooted (especially on light sandy loam soils).

If weather forecasters have announced a storm warning, play it safe by putting up guy ropes. They come in two types: fixed to stakes and anchor type.

The essence of the first option is that thick stakes are driven into the ground on four sides near the tree, the height of which is more than half the height of the trunk. A twine is pulled from each support to the trunk. It is not tied on bare bark, but the trunk is first wrapped with roofing material or a wooden block is placed at the place of tying. True, it will not always be possible to drive stakes into frozen ground in winter, so conifers are strengthened in this way in the fall, especially recently transplanted large 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 - involves the installation of steel guy wires, which are attached to the tree at one end and pulled onto the anchors at the other. Anchors should be located outside the root system. To protect the trunk from steel, you need to wrap the tree with thick burlap, and use wooden pads on top of it.

Surprise four: February sun

Even the most resistant conifers by the end of winter run the risk of freezing or, conversely, getting burned. At this time, the weather is unstable, and often the sun shines so brightly for days that it provokes an early awakening of the roots. They begin to actively feed the crown, expecting immediate warmth, and then the so-called return frosts can appear. You cannot stop the flow of sap, but you can cover the crown with a thick non-woven material, like lutrasil, or at least put canvas potato bags on the young seedlings.

To prevent the ground from thawing quickly, mulch it with sawdust. Their white color will reflect the sun's rays, and the roots will not awaken as quickly. But when stable heat sets in, the sawdust must be removed immediately so that the plant does not dry out.

Without covering with lutrasil or other non-woven material, the crown of many rare conifers may not withstand the test of severe frosts

Another danger lies in 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 not advisable to protect conifers from the sun with non-woven material, as it accumulates heat and can increase the drying out of the needles.

To protect from the February sun, you can use burlap or agrofibre, which creates soft twilight inside the shelter and prevents drying out of the needles

Don't worry if some plants' needles turn yellow in winter. This is how junipers and hemlocks react to cold. The color will return in spring.

If you carried out all the security measures on time, the conifers will quickly recover from hibernation and will delight you with their decorative properties.

Coniferous plants planted this year do not have time to develop powerful rhizomes during the season and become strong enough to survive in harsh winter conditions. Young plantings need protection created in various ways using factory-made or home-made structures.

The optimal time for covering plants is dry weather that sets in with the arrival of stable cold weather. It is recommended to place protective materials on frames that ensure the integrity of the branches and optimal ventilation.

We purchase ready-made shelters.

Purchased structures are ready-made kits that are easy to install and do not require additional accessories. Among the many options, you can always choose shelters that are suitable in shape and size.

The frames of these products are made of polymer or metal tubes, bamboo rods or fine mesh. Non-woven fabrics are used as protective material, allowing air to pass through and maintaining a dry atmosphere inside the shelter, for example, Snapbond or Agrospan.

We cover the homemade frame with purchased material.
Another way to organize a winter shelter is to separately purchase the required amount of non-woven material, which allows you to save about half the money. In this case, the base for securing the canvas is built with your own hands from thick wire. Homemade arcs are installed crosswise over the plant.

The synthetic fabric is stretched over the frame and pinned with wire pins.

We use wooden supports and burlap

To make a simple frame, you will need four pegs that are twice the height of the coniferous plant being covered. The ends of the wooden slats are knocked down with a nail and racks resembling a compass are installed in place. It is better to stick stakes into the ground in advance, without waiting for it to freeze.

With the onset of stable night frosts, the wooden base is covered with burlap, fixing the fabric with bent wire pins or stones.

We collect spruce spruce branches

Spruce branches serve as an excellent winter shelter, which additionally protects plants from rodents. The air layer created under the thorny branches is well ventilated and less subject to temperature changes. Spruce branches are harvested exclusively from healthy trees; you cannot use infected needles and transfer diseases to young seedlings.

Long spruce or pine legs are perfect for shelter - they are folded over the plant in the form of a hut, tied at the top with twine. But the short shoots remaining after the formative pruning of mature trees are also used. First, wire arcs are installed on top of the bush. Then the frame is covered with cut branches.

The result is an ideal shelter that saves the coniferous plant from the ice crust in winter.

Another advantage of spruce branches is that they do not rot and do not contribute to the proliferation of destructive microorganisms.

We protect the root system.
The trunk circles of coniferous seedlings are mulched with some kind of organic matter, spreading the material in a loose layer at least 5 cm thick. A mixture of soil and leaves is well suited for covering the roots. Left under the bush in the spring, it rots and serves as additional feeding.

The coniferous plants remaining in the containers are dug into the ground for the winter or a blanket of sawdust is placed near them.

The ground part of the seedlings is protected by any of the available methods.

Each of the structures considered begins to be ventilated when the spring rays of the sun melt the snow around it. First, the northern side is opened slightly, and after the soil thaws, the protective material is completely removed.
Winter shelter for young coniferous plants is one of the means to increase the winter hardiness of plantings. It should not be taken as the only method that guarantees a safe winter. An experienced gardener is always thoughtful about preparing plants, paying attention to planting, watering and fertilizing.

What and how to cover coniferous plants in winter?

In the pre-winter time, prepare coniferous trees and shrubs. To avoid breaks from the snow pile, the branches of vertically growing junipers and thujas are carefully tied together. An ordinary twine is suitable for this.

Kraft paper, burlap, and non-woven materials such as agrospan, lutrasil, and spunbond can be used as covering materials. At home, you can even use newspaper and wrapping paper for shading. The only condition is that the material must “breathe”, so films and plastic are unsuitable.

The snow around the plant is trampled down or cleared away. Now wrap the material around it, completely covering the needles. Fasten the seams with a stapler, leave a gap at the top for breathing (on the shady side, so that the sun's rays do not fall on the needles). There is also a frame method of shelter - a frame is installed around the plant and covered with a cap made of agrospan. The shelter and cap are secured with pegs. You can see the types of frame shelters on our website.

In some frosty and sunny winters, adult, long-planted plants can be shaded with a fine mesh on the sunny side.

When is the cover removed?

Removing the cover requires great care and compliance with several conditions. Firstly, it is necessary that the ground thaws no less than the depth of a bayonet and the root system of the plant begins to work. This happens around the end of April.

Secondly, the cover is removed in cloudy weather so that sudden changes in illumination and direct rays do not cause shock to the needles. It is ideal if you have studied the weather forecast in advance and opened the plants on the eve of a cloudy period of 4-7 days. Then your coniferous pets will be able to gradually adapt to the light regime and painlessly move from hibernation to growth.

It is traditionally believed that coniferous plants do not need any special preparation for frost; they are the main decoration of the winter garden, beautiful and durable. In many ways, this is true - adults and other coniferous plants that have been growing in the garden for several years, as a rule, do not care even about the harsh Russian winters. However, even for them it is worth carrying out some preparatory measures in the autumn. And young coniferous seedlings often die without surviving the first winter in a new place.

Let's try to avoid this.

Oddly enough, most often conifers die in winter not from frost, but from sunburn and drought. In case of rapid air warming in spring (or during winter thaws), the needles begin to actively work, evaporating moisture. At the same time, the roots, located in the still frozen ground, cannot yet replenish the moisture supply. The plant begins to dry out. To avoid this, in the autumn, before the onset of cold weather (October-November, when the ground has not yet frozen), abundant moisture-recharging irrigation is carried out for conifers. At least two buckets of water are needed for each plant, depending on its age and size, as well as how dry or rainy the autumn was. It is also recommended to protect young plants from the sunny side with a screen or wrap them with covering material. In this case, the use of plastic film is unacceptable - it will cause fungal diseases during thaws.

Dwarf cultivars of coniferous plants are usually the least frost-resistant. Some of them can easily overwinter under snow cover.

Coniferous plants that especially do not tolerate frosty winters are Canadian hemlock, western thuja, juniper varieties, black pine, Weymouth pine, Serbian spruce.

Coniferous plants that are regularly pruned endure winter much worse than plants that grow freely; they are more vulnerable. In regions with harsh winters, it is advisable to completely cover such conifers for the winter. Plants placed in pots and containers can be moved to a bright room with an air temperature of about plus five degrees Celsius.

In winter, conifers are at risk of branches breaking. Snow poses a direct danger in this sense. It is advisable to sweep or shake it off in a timely manner, without waiting for the breaks. It is better to tie vertically growing conifers (thuja occidentalis “Smaragd” and “Columna”, vertical varieties of junipers, hemlock) not even too tightly with twine. At the same time, the branches should not be compressed too tightly to prevent the needles from heating inside the crown.

Newly planted young plants may be weakened by fungal diseases and insect pests before winter. Therefore, at the end of summer or autumn, it is imperative to treat the plants with specialized preparations designed to combat diseases and pests of conifers. It is advisable to periodically inspect young plants and promptly begin to deal with emerging problems.

All feeding of conifers with nitrogen-containing fertilizers is stopped before the beginning of August. This is necessary so that the growth of young shoots gradually stops and the shoots begin to ripen. Fertilize with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers.

By the way, the branches of some coniferous plants turn yellow in winter (this is green pseudohemlock, some varieties of common juniper). There is no need to be afraid of this - in the spring they will return to their normal appearance.

As we already know, coniferous plants are distinguished not only by their pronounced decorative properties, but also by their unpretentiousness. Frost resistance, disease resistance, along with other advantages, make this class an almost ideal design element. But this does not at all free us from caring for them, especially during the cold season.

Winter is a difficult time of year for any plant.

Winter time is fraught with several threats to conifers. One of them is the danger of tree branches and bushes breaking under the weight of snow. To prevent this unpleasant phenomenon, it is enough to shake off the accumulated snow from them after snowfalls. If a break could not be avoided, then small branches are removed, and larger ones are pulled together at the site of damage and secured in their natural position.

Pine, cypress and cedar fall into the risk zone; they are the ones who most often suffer from these phenomena.

Dangers awaiting conifers in the cold season

Bright sun rays at the end of winter and during thaws can also cause trouble. During these periods, the needles actively evaporate moisture, while the root system of the plant, located in frozen soil, is not yet able to replenish the supply of moisture that has been lost. In order to protect conifers from death, a very important procedure is carried out in late autumn - abundant watering of plants planted during the current and last seasons. During this event, the soil at the very base of the seedlings is filled with a large amount of water and then mulched. This will allow your plants to meet temperature changes in good condition and tolerate them in the same way.

Another potential “aggressor” for our plants is frosty wind, which can also cause burns and contribute to their death. To protect against them, we recommend planting trees and shrubs along the wall or surrounded by other plants. If the design style does not provide for barriers next to the plants, then it is worth building a screen for the cold season.

How to cover conifers in winter

The material for the bedspread should be chosen so that the plant is not clogged - therefore, plastic and films are not suitable

Coniferous plants need winter shelter and, as we found out earlier, not only from heavy precipitation such as snow, but also from sunlight on warm days. We recommend wrapping the crowns of bushes and trees with thin material – agrospan – until the snow cover is established. This procedure will preserve the integrity and shape of the crown.

Tall plants such as thuja or juniper are quite difficult to cover, but it will be very useful to wrap them with ordinary twine, which will prevent breakage of branches and a number of other problems.

It is not necessary to cover spruce and pine trees, with the exception of those planted in a given season.

It is advisable to additionally secure the roots of young plants that are not yet sufficiently developed. This advice is most applicable to tall species of shrubs and trees whose roots do not lie very deep in the ground: spruce, fir, thuja.

How to restore coniferous plants after winter

If, despite the protective measures taken, the plant still suffers damage, they must be quickly restored to the extent possible. Next, we'll look at some useful tips on how to do this in the most typical situations.

If the plant has lost its color or has become dull, the branches should be sprayed with small portions of warm water and shaded in sunny weather. As soon as it gets warmer and the air temperature stabilizes at ten degrees above zero, the crowns of affected shrubs and trees can be treated with biostimulants, such as HB 101 Epin or Zircon.

It is advisable to remove blankets and windings from wrapped plants in cloudy weather, when the soil has thawed sufficiently.

In conclusion, we would like to say that taking care of the safety of your conifers in advance and preventing their damage and death is much easier than reaping the fruits of your own indifference and inattention.