How To Care for Herbaceous Plants in Winter
During the winter, taking care of our garden can seem like a daunting task. Whilst our greenery may appear less ‘needy’, large estates and gardens, with many herbaceous plants present, will require a lot of maintenance and upkeep. In this article, we will be discussing how you can care for your herbaceous plants during the colder seasons.
How To Start Winter Mulching
Winter mulching is a must when it comes to caring for your herbaceous plants. Applying a layer of either organic or inorganic mulch around the base of your plant will further protect the soil and the roots from the nasty unpredictable weather we get here in the UK.
Winter mulching can be a great preventive measure as it helps the soil maintain its moisture. In the winter, your professional gardening team will adapt their watering schedule to be less frequent. Whilst the plants require less water, it’s still important to keep the soil moist. Mulch can also prevent weeds from taking over. Here at BZ Gardens, we understand the importance of winter garden maintenance. To ensure that your garden is ready for spring, we regularly recommend mulching as a way to stop weeds from growing out of control.
Winter Pruning For Your Plants
The early winter is the perfect time to start pruning your trees. Pruning your herbaceous plants and removing the dead or diseased leaves can not only promote a much more tidy appearance, but it also prevents any potential diseases or pests from spreading to your other plants. As in the winter, our plants and trees go through a dormant period, they can’t defend themselves as well as they normally would be able to . Winter pruning allows you to get ahead of this issue and ensure they are fighting fit for the upcoming cold season.
Protecting Against Frost
The goal of winter is to protect all your herbaceous plants from the frost. Protecting against the frost can be done many times, but one of the most recommended is through frost blankets or burlap. As soon as the weather starts to hit freezing temperatures, it’s a good idea to cover herbaceous plants over to ensure they aren’t affected.
This can be particularly important for plants that are not adaptable to the cold. Many gardening professionals will recommend that during the winter, you may want to remove the covers during the milder days. This allows for proper air circulation and avoids root rot.
Wind Protection
In the UK, the winter can see many changes of temperature, including high-levels of rain, frost and of course, wind. Winter wind can be extremely harsh on some varieties of herbaceous plants. This can lead to them not thriving come spring, and risks further damage and dehydration. Your professional gardening team can install windbreaks, such as burlap screens or fencing, to protect your plants from strong winter winds. This is especially crucial for taller or more delicate varieties.
While this can sound like a garden eye-sore, this article from GardenBenches.com, titled ‘How To Create Shelter In A Windy Garden’, details how wind protection can become part of your garden design. For example, it discusses how you can grow your own natural wind protection. It states, ‘trees and hedges work wonders when considering how to create shelter in a windy garden without obscuring your view’. Hedges naturally filter wind, rather than completely stopping it and can be integrated into the overall design of your large estate or garden easily.
You can also plant wind resistant flowers, to ensure your garden looks beautiful, even in the winter winds. This article recommends ‘Zinnia, Geranium, Marigold, Coreopsis, Gazania, Lavender, Shasta daisy, Alyssum, Portulaca’. These plants all work well together and when placed in a windy environment.
Monitor for Pests and Diseases
Ironically, whilst our plants go into their dormant state during the winter, pests and diseases still tend to thrive. During the winter, it’s an excellent time to inspect your herbaceous plants up close, on a regular basis to check for signs.
This can be presented as anything from leaf discolouration (often showing as yellow or brown spotting), fine silky webbing on the soil, leaves dropping or flies on or near the soil. We would recommend speaking to your professional gardening team about how to treat any issues promptly, as winter conditions can exacerbate problems and weaken the plants.
How Do You Care for Herbaceous Perennials?
Caring for herbaceous plants can be a job in itself, but what about caring for herbaceous perennials? Taking extra steps to care for herbaceous perennials in winter is essential to ensuring that they survive until the return of spring.
The first step from your professional gardening team will be cutting back on any dead foliage of the plants. This will remove any pests and disease, before they enter their dormant period. Then, as mentioned above, they will tend to add a layer of mulch around the base. This will insulate the soil and protect the roots from any temperate drops. It is recommended, if you have any potted perennial plants, to move them into a more sheltered location during the winter. Your professional gardeners will regularly monitor these plants during the cold season.
Professional Gardening Services In Surrey
During the winter months, your garden requires a lot of maintenance to prepare it for spring. Here at BZ Gardens, we understand the importance of taking care of your herbaceous plants and will be able to offer a wealth of knowledge on how to do so. If you would like to speak to one of our team, here at BZ Gardens, please contact us on 01483 967160.