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January 2010 Newsletter© Protecting Your Plants Against The Cold In November, I recommended spraying your broadleaf evergreens with dormant oil. This week is the reason. We are about to experience the coldest temperatures in years with sub-zero wind chills. Plants die in the cold for a couple of reasons: Desiccation kills – When the soil temperature drops below 45°, water absorption by the plant shuts down. With cold ground, brisk winds will dry the stems of many plants, especially those with green stems like gardenias, and cause some stem dieback. If it stays cold and windy long enough, the plant may be killed to the ground. Fortunately, we are entering this cold spell with well hydrated plants from the wet fall we have had. If you had sprayed dormant oil on the foliage and stems, the plant would be sealed against water loss, thus protecting it further. Temperature kills – This is more of a problem than wind. Every plant has a temperature at which the stems or trunk can be damaged by cold. It varies by plant variety and by the micro environment the plant is in. The soil temperature, sunlight, duration of the cold, wind desiccation, age of the plant; all these factors will affect that magic number at which a plant can be killed. The lower the temperature, the more plants are likely to be damaged. Very low temperature AND drying wind can be the one – two knockout punch for some plants. I’ve long referred to Memphis as being too far north for most plants and too far south for everything else. We grow many plants that are at the end of their range either by winter cold or summer heat. The ones we worry about this week…are the ones from south of here. So what do we do? You can protect your plants from the wind by covering low plants with leaves or pine needles. Many of your neighbors have already bagged them for you and brought them to the street…go get them. Larger plants can be covered with linen sheets or tarps for wind protection. If you use plastic, it needs to be open in the back or have a slot in the top to allow heat to escape if the sun comes out. The plant can be damaged more by the heat than the wind. On the way to work everyday, I see some plants that are wrapped with plastic like a piece of candy and tied at the top and bottom. If it is 8° outside, it is 8° inside that plastic bag at night and probably 80° or higher on a sunny day when the air temperature is near freezing. Not good for those plants. Larger plants that need to be covered for temperature protection should be covered with a large tarp so you can cover the plant and as much ground as possible. You’ll get a little heat from the soil and you can add Christmas lights or a utility lamp to add some extra heat, but you still have to monitor the daytime heat under the tarp. With falling temperatures you can protect plants by icing them down with the sprinkler as the cold moves in, but use caution not to overdo it and break the limbs. Snow helps protect the plants also and right now, it looks like we may get some before the coldest weather this weekend. Beyond that, there’s nothing to do but wait for spring and see how much damage is done, and to what. Until then, keep watering throughout the winter (if Mother Nature doesn’t do it for you) whenever the temperature climbs high enough. It’s hard to think about January garden chores when it’s bitterly cold and snow is in the forecast, but it will warm up…someday. Prune your Liriope (monkey grass) in January. Use a mower, a string trimmer or scissors, but it’s time to remove last year’s foliage to make way for this year’s new growth. Trim summer flowering shrubs this month such as crape myrtles and althea. January is a good time to plan for the up coming year. Below is a list of the perennials, about 325 varieties that we will be growing at Dan West Garden Center for the spring of 2010. These will be available around mid March. This is not all that we will offer, there will be many others that we bring in from other growers. This is just the list that we will be potting this winter assuming there is not an availability or quality issue from our suppliers.
We want to invite you to check out the newly revised “How To” section on our website. We’ve added a lot of information that we hope will help you choose the right plant and become a better gardener. Also our 2010 Rose List has been posted and a list of the Roses by Color for your convenience.
Also, if you have a question the week of January 11th, please call either store. I’ll be away from a computer and unable to check the website or email for about a week. Thanks, Jim.
How many Dan West locations are there?
That was last month’s question and the correct answer is 2. And yes we had some people miss it even though I underlined the “either store” below. I tried to make it easy for the holiday season.
Here’s this month’s challenge. Is the following statement true or false? (You have a 50% chance of getting it right!)
January is a good month to put down mulch made from December’s Christmas trees.
The contest ends on January 15th. Drop by either store to enter or you can email your entry to questions@danwestonline.com.. One winner, selected from all correct entries, will receive a $25 Dan West Gift Certificate.
Thanks for shopping with us at Dan West.
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