Tender plants, grafted roses need blanket of mulch now

As I was pulling the frozen tomato vines out of the garden last weekend, I discovered one of the prettiest end-of-the-garden treats: translucent, gemlike green and red balls that should have a place on the holiday tree. When I held them up to the sunlight, they glowed.

They were also so hard they would have been great racked up for a game of outdoor billiards. They were of course the leftover tomatoes that I didn’t harvest.

The cold put an end to the garden season in grand style. More than a few folks hadn’t had their sprinklers blown out before it hit and may be facing some major repairs in the spring. My best advice at this late date is to check with your sprinkler company and stay on their list. It might thaw out enough to still get it done.

If you have hoses still attached to faucets, disconnect them now even if you have to take the hair dryer out and thaw the connection. The faucet needs to drain to prevent cracked pipes. Been there; done that.

Now is the time to get any plants like grafted roses; garlic; newly planted perennials, shrubs and trees and other tender plants mulched. Do it before we get a thaw as you want to keep things frozen for the winter to prevent freeze-thaw damage and frost heaving. Shredded pine needles, leaves, and garden debris work well. Lay down a 3- to 4-inch layer over root areas and plant crowns. Mound mulch up a foot or more around grafted roses to protect the graft point. Cut roses back half way to prevent the canes from whipping in the wind and auguring out the mulch.

Most of our deciduous trees hadn’t shed all their leaves and are now likely to hold onto them until a good storm blows them off. This means the remaining leaves will catch more snow and put more weight on tree branches than they are used to. Make a note of trees that are holding onto their leaves and be ready to gently knock snow off the branches. Use a lightweight bamboo pole to gently bump the branch tips to release the snow and not break the branches.

Losing leaves is only the first step the trees go through in the drought process. Once the leaves are gone, the trees move sap and the food it contains into the roots for the winter. This removes excess water from the cells and reduces the potential for freeze damage.

This cold snap has interrupted that process and we are likely to see some damage in the spring and further into the year. The cells, still full of water, will freeze and break damaging cells the tree may not be able to repair especially in thin branches. Trees will have enough energy in their buds to begin leafing out in the spring but the branches may then die back. At this point there is nothing we can do about it. We’ll just have to prune out the damage in the spring.