November 2008 Garden Tips
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
- Give your lawn a good raking to lift away accumulations of debris. Keep leaves raked from the lawn. They should be composted. Alternatively, you can just mow over them, turning them to mulch, which adds important nutrients back to the lawn.
- If you haven’t already, apply a fall or winter type of lawn fertilizer. Early November is the time to do it. This encourages good root development and helps improve the color of the lawn. Lime can also be applied, if needed.
- Place your holiday spruce tips in the ground or containers before the ground freezes and makes it more difficult.
- Put down an inch of hay or straw mulch over shallow-rooted perennials to prevent frost heaving (plants being pushed out of soil by freezing temperatures).
- Water all trees, shrubs, and evergreens, especially new plantings, just before the ground becomes frozen.
- Be sure to place all liquid insecticides and fertilizers that you may have left over from summer in a heated garage or basement for the winter so they do not freeze.
- Don’t forget to drain the gas out of your garden tiller, lawn mower, and other gasoline-powered equipment, or simply run the engine until the tank is empty. Gas left in the tank and engine over the winter may clog the fuel system and result in poor performance next season.
- Early to mid-month, cover perennials with mulch to protect the crowns of the plants from freezing and thawing temperature cycles.
- Once the ground begins to freeze and you have consistent temperatures below freezing, it is time to protect roses from winter’s wind and cold. The simplest method is to mound bark mulch around the base of the rose, covering the graft union (the swollen part of the stem near the ground). The mound should be about one foot tall. Wait until spring to cut back the canes above the mound.
- Another method is to place four stakes around a rose bush, then wrap chicken wire or burlap around the stakes. Fill the center with mulch as deep as possible. You may need to tie up long canes so they will fit inside the cylinder. Avoid plastic rose cones without ventilation holes at the top because they can heat up and damage plants.
- Wrap the trunks of newly planted trees to protect from winter damage as well as rodent damage.
Resources
Villa Landscapes
Burnsville • 952-894-1553
Maple Grove • 763-425-9277
Oakdale • 651-773-7440
All Seasons Garden Center
800-745-7777
Minnesota Nursery & Landscape Association
GardenMinnesota.com
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