What Is The Threat Of A Snowless Winter To The Garden And Orchard? What Can Be Done To Protect Plants?

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What Is The Threat Of A Snowless Winter To The Garden And Orchard? What Can Be Done To Protect Plants?
What Is The Threat Of A Snowless Winter To The Garden And Orchard? What Can Be Done To Protect Plants?

Video: What Is The Threat Of A Snowless Winter To The Garden And Orchard? What Can Be Done To Protect Plants?

Video: What Is The Threat Of A Snowless Winter To The Garden And Orchard? What Can Be Done To Protect Plants?
Video: 3 Frost Protection Methods That I Don’t Recommend 2024, March
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We are all accustomed to the fact that winter pleases us with abundant snowfalls, we ride on sleds from the mountains, go skiing, and on the flooded ice rinks we have fun skating. The garden and the vegetable garden are also "happy" when it is covered with a thick layer of snow "blanket". But, unfortunately, this is not always the case, since sometimes there are snowless winters, like the winter of 2000-2001, when it was cold in winter, but there was practically no snow and then it was not easy for the plants.

Evergreen ornamental shrub, poorly covered with snow
Evergreen ornamental shrub, poorly covered with snow

Content:

  • Why is a snowless winter dangerous for plants?
  • What can be done to protect plants?

Why is a snowless winter dangerous for plants?

A snowless winter is dangerous because the soil can freeze to a very great depth, thereby destroying most, and perhaps the entire root system of fruit crops, both pome and stone fruit. Of course, heat-loving crops, which we covered with non-woven material, will suffer first of all, but with the expectation that a thick snow layer will also fall on top: these are blackberries, gumi, strawberries. But what can I say, in a snowless and frosty winter, even gooseberries can suffer from frost.

The worst thing is that those cultures that froze out in especially harsh winters to the level of snow (the same gumi), this time, are likely to die completely: after all, their roots will also freeze out and restore the aerial part of the buds located on the roots, then they will no longer be able to eat due to the root growth.

What can be done to protect plants?

If frosts come, but there is no snow, and even forecasters do not predict it, then you need to act quickly, but wisely - not to waste a minute of time, but not to grab onto everything at once, otherwise it will only get worse. Pay attention to fruit trees and berry bushes first. All their bite zones and near-trunk stripes must be covered with a thick layer of humus or sawdust, the layer should be really thick, not a couple of centimeters, but at least 15-20.

In shrubs, the area of the trunk circle should be covered in this way (with a radius of about a meter or one and a half from the center of the bush), and for trees - equal to two meters or even three, if the tree is more than one and a half decades.

Protection of shrubs and fruit crops

Start with the most delicate crops like blackberries, raspberries, apricots, and then move on to apple trees, plums, and so on. Do not forget that the aboveground part can withstand severe frosts, but the roots, even in winter-hardy crops without snow, can die even in a frost of minus 15 degrees, if it lasts for five or six days.

To keep even the smallest grains of snow, be sure to put spruce paws on top of the mulch, they perfectly trap the snow, on top of that, they will slightly strengthen your insulation, prevent it from scattering around the site from sudden gusts of wind.

In the future, often visit the area where trees and shrubs grow, and if a little snow fell, try to collect it and additionally cover the plants. And remember - the snow should remain loose, fluffy, this is the only way to keep it warm.

Vines protection

When shrubs and trees are securely covered, you can start covering the vines. It is advisable to do this on the same day, because if there are only a dozen bushes and the same number of trees on the site, then it will take no more than a couple of hours to cover them.

From vines require obligatory shelter: lemongrass, actinidia and grapes. Be sure to remove them from the supports and lay them on sawdust or non-woven covering material, or even on boards, so that the vine does not touch the soil. On top of the vines, it is also necessary to spread a non-woven material, and cover it with a layer of sawdust or humus 15-25 cm thick; then put spruce paws to trap the snow.

In such a "pie", the vines should be reliably preserved until spring, the main thing, having provided protection from mice, usually ordinary poisoned baits can serve it. Be sure that most of the buds on these plants with this method of shelter can even survive a snowless winter.

Ornamental plants not covered with snow
Ornamental plants not covered with snow

Protecting roses

Now let's pay attention to the roses, the best option is to try to bend them to the ground and fill them with sawdust, but if this does not work, you can take five-liter plastic bottles, cut off the bottom and top of them, put a rose bush there and fill them with sawdust to the top, maximally sealing, and cover with a non-woven covering material on top.

Do not forget that roses can be pruned even to a height of 15-20 centimeters, the buds on this part are enough to restore the bush. Most importantly, do not forget to reinforce the material with something so that it does not fly away from the wind to a neighboring area.

Shelter of heat-loving crops in boxes

At the end of the day or the next, crops such as large-leaved hydrangeas, rhododendrons, peonies, buddleys and the like can be sheltered. They do not always endure snowy winters without loss, and if there is no snow, they will certainly die. Why did we postpone their hideout? Yes, because this requires special preparation, namely the construction of wooden boxes. You can knock them together from the rails, which are permissible from ordinary wooden boxes, just stuff them so that you get something like a box, but without a bottom.

After such boxes are ready, the bushes, if necessary, need to be tied with twine so that, when placing them in the boxes, they do not break the branches. Further, just to the top, these boxes should be filled with everything that is at hand, it can be sawdust, dry leaves and even rags - if nothing else is at hand. After the boxes are neatly filled, they need to be wrapped with foil, in a circle, isolating all the cracks and fixing it so that the wind does not break.

You don't have to cover the top of our box, but you should still put a couple of spruce paws. In the future, as soon as the snow starts to fall, you also need to sketch it out a little more: first, to the bases of the boxes, and then you can fill them completely, nothing will be bad, the main thing is to quickly remove the shelters in the spring so that the soil and plants begin to warm up, wake up after the winter hibernation and acquire new shoots.

By the way, the boxes, after removing them, can not be disassembled into separate boards, they may well be useful in the future, the main thing is to place them in a dry place, or simply dry them well and place them in a shed or garage before winter.

Scheme of a box with sawdust for sheltering shrubs in a snowless winter
Scheme of a box with sawdust for sheltering shrubs in a snowless winter

Strawberry protection

Finally, strawberries. Some people do everything simply trite - they fill the plantation with water, literally freezing strawberries into the ice, this is quite acceptable, the main thing is that first you need to properly enclose the site so that the water does not spread throughout the entire area, and the filling process does not turn out to be too costly.

If you are afraid to flood the plantation with water or it sounds creepy for you, then cover the strawberries with a layer of sawdust 20 centimeters thick, you can also throw more spruce paws on top or spread a non-woven covering material, such protection should “work” and the strawberries will be reliably protected in a snowless winter.

These are the dangers of a snowless winter, and in these ways described above, you can save cultures from its negative factors. If you are armed with other methods of plant protection, then write about them in the comments, it will be interesting and useful for everyone to gain new valuable knowledge.

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