[permaculture] I second Kathryn...regarding winter-ing of trees

lynnann lynnann at newnorth.net
Fri Dec 19 10:21:05 EST 2008


heya all...as some of you know...I have a small garden center up here in the far northern (read: zone 3) reaches of Wisconsin.  The tree and shrub (and perennial for that matter) stock that isn't sold during the short growing season is wintered over very very successfully using some careful steps.  

The trees in pots just stay ing the holes they are in during the growing season...in their #7 and up pots (we do that so they don't blow over)...Then, once dormant...the shrubs and gallon perennials are laid down, above ground...like shingles...meaning...a line of shrubs then the another with the plant matter covering the pots of the previous line....like thatching.  

Once that's done, we cover with ground cloth and then either Spanish grass or regular straw.  We have about 5% mortality and that's usually because some mousey girdled the main branches, however in the recent past years, we've used a very nice, safe deterrent and have almost no problem with varmints.

The secret to having a live tree for the holidays is to be sure it's dormant when you bring it in and then NOT let it come out of dormancy, then...get it back outside and covered.  Yes...much mulch (say that 5 times quickly) to cover it's feetsys...er...root ball...love and peace...lynnann

For those of you who would like to check out my little corner of 3D carbon form heaven....her at my Frappr site:
http://www.frappr.com/lynnannspathtonature


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