Features of the shelter of conifers for the winter and advice on preparing for frost. Preparing conifers for winter

As we already know, conifers are distinguished not only by their pronounced decorative properties, but also by their unpretentiousness. Frost resistance, disease resistance, along with other advantages, make this class an almost ideal design element. But this does not free us from caring for them, especially during the cold season.

Winter is a difficult time of the year for any plant

Winter time is fraught with several threats to conifers at once. One of them is the danger of breaking branches of trees and bushes under the weight of snow. To prevent this unpleasant phenomenon, it is enough to shake off the accumulated snow from them after snowfalls. If the break could not be avoided, then the small branches are removed, and the larger ones are pulled together at the site of damage and fixed in their natural position.

Pine, cypress and cedar fall into the risk zone, they are the ones who most often suffer from these phenomena.

Dangers awaiting ephedra in the cold season

Bright sunshine at the end of winter and during thaws can also cause trouble. During these periods, the needles actively evaporate moisture, while the root system of the plant, which is in the frozen soil, is not yet able to replenish the moisture reserve that was lost. In order to protect the conifers from death, a very important procedure is carried out in late autumn - abundant watering of the plants planted during the current and last seasons. During this event, the soil at the very base of the seedlings is poured with plenty of water and then mulched. This will allow your plants to meet and tolerate temperature changes in good condition.

Another potential "aggressor" for our plants is frosty wind, which can also cause burns and contribute to their death. To protect against them, we recommend planting trees and shrubs along a wall or surrounded by other plants. If the design style does not provide for barriers next to the plants, then it is worth building a screen for the cold weather.

How to cover conifers in winter

The material for the bedspread should be chosen so that the plant is not clogged - therefore, plastic and films are not suitable

Conifers need winter shelter and, as we found out earlier, not only from heavy rainfall in the idea of ​​snow, but also from sunlight on warm days. We recommend wrapping the crowns of bushes and trees with a thin material - agrospan until the snow cover is established. This procedure will preserve the integrity and shape of the crown.

It is quite difficult to cover tall plants such as thuja or juniper, but it will be very useful to wrap them with ordinary twine, which will prevent branches from breaking and a number of other problems.

Spruce and pine trees do not need to be covered, with the exception of those planted in this season.

The roots of young plants that are still insufficiently developed should be additionally fixed. This advice is most applicable to tall types of shrubs and trees, the roots of which do not lie very deep in the ground: spruce, fir, thuja.

How to restore conifers after winter

If, in spite of the actions taken to protect, the plant still suffers damage, they must be quickly restored as far as possible. Below are some helpful tips on how to do this in the most common situations.

If the plant has lost its color or has faded, then the branches must be sprayed with small portions of warm water and shaded in sunny weather. As soon as it gets warmer and the air temperature stabilizes at around ten degrees above zero, crowns of affected shrubs and trees can be treated with biostimulants, such as HB 101, Epin or Zircon.

It is advisable to remove the covers and windings from the wrapped plants in cloudy weather, when the soil thaws sufficiently.

In conclusion, we want to say that taking care of the safety of your conifers in advance and preventing their damage and death is much easier than reaping the fruits of your own indifference and carelessness.

With the onset of cold weather, it's time to think about preparing plants for the winter period. It is generally accepted that conifers are quite frost-resistant, not requiring shelter. This is certainly true. But here are young plants, seedlings that were planted recently and are not yet strong enough to suffer from cold weather. This also applies to conifers brought from warmer countries, where there are no such low temperatures as ours, so the plant needs adaptation. For this, it is recommended to cover them for the first two years after planting. In addition, this is necessary not only to save plants from frost, but to a greater extent from the bright sun that can cause burns.

The frost resistance of conifers is not the same. Some varieties of thuja, juniper, spruce (such as Konika, Nidiformis) and pines (Gornaya, Veimutova) are more susceptible to sunburn. Sunburn is caused by the bright sun in winter, when the plant's root system is "dormant". Because of this, the process of photosynthesis begins in the needles and it actively consumes moisture, as a result, it turns brown and dries up. The bright sun is especially dangerous during severe frosts.

If the plant grows in a container, or in some container, you can do the following:

1. The easiest option would be to move it from street to room.

2. If the first option does not suit us, then we need to cover it directly with the container. For shelter, you can use a variety of materials, the most popular of which is spruce branches. It is laid in such a way that the branches completely cover the plant - a hut. If it was not possible to find spruce branches, then bags filled with straw, sawdust, leaves, etc. are well suited for these purposes. You can immediately apply two methods: put bags around the plant, then cover with spruce branches. And take care in advance that the shelter does not suffer from strong winds, therefore, it is customary to tie up the bags, and sprinkle the spruce branches with earth, etc.

If coniferous the plant is in the open field, then it is necessary to carry out the following activities:

1. First you need to insulate the proper circle. For these purposes, spruce branches, sawdust or needles, etc. are suitable. strewn with a thick layer.

2. So that the branches of the plants do not suffer from the snowfall, they must be tied, press the branches to the trunk. You can build a shelter canopy.

3. The plant needs to be covered. To do this, it is wrapped in any convenient material. Can use burlap, lutrasil, agrospan, kraft paper or spunbond (it is highly resistant to temperatures and weather conditions). In principle, any available material is suitable for these purposes, even such as paper, wrapping or newsprint, the main thing is that it allows air to pass through, i.e. "breathed". Therefore, the film is not suitable for these purposes.

4. The shelter is secured so that it is not damaged by the wind. Therefore, it is fixed with ropes or fastened with a stapler. WITH it is better to leave a small breathing hole at the top, preferably from the shady side.

5. In addition, you can put a screen made of polyethylene or agrospan. For this, a fence is erected around the plant, either directly from a plastic film, and attached to the ground with pegs, or covered with a sewn agrospan cap.

Long-planted plants, if necessary, can be shaded with a fine mesh from the sun.

Although snow cover is a good covering material that can protect plants from severe frost, it can also harm the plant and cause the appearance of "snow mold". Conifers with a dense, compact crown especially suffer from this. Mold appears during the beginning of spring, so at this time it is better to shake off the snow from the plant.

So that the plant does not suffer from sunburn, it is not necessary to rush to clean the installed screens. It is necessary to wait for the already established warm weather, which comes at the end of April, when the earth finally thaws out and the root system wakes up completely.

Today there are others. Developed by - antiperspirants... They are sprayed on the crown of the plant, which creates a thin film on its surface, which reduces the evaporation of moisture from the surface of the needles or leaves, keeping it inside. Over time, the film breaks down, which allows the plant to painlessly survive the period of early spring solar activity.

If we properly prepare the plants for winter, then we have nothing to fear. Plants will perfectly endure the winter and will delight us with their beautiful needles and wonderful growth throughout the next season.

Coniferous trees are distinguished by their extraordinary decorativeness - blue Christmas trees, lush firs, thuja, junipers often decorate personal plots. As a rule, they are quite winter-hardy and calmly endure the cold under the snow cover. However, some "southern guests" and any young animals require additional winter shelter: they are threatened by both freezing and "spring burns", which are common for conifers.

The first thing that needs to be done in order for young trees and exotic plants to survive the winter without losses is to provide them with water-charging irrigation. In late autumn, before the first frosts, pour an average of 5 buckets of water under the root of each planting: the soil will freeze less and in early spring the trees will be protected from traditional coniferous damage.

When considering how to cover conifers for the winter, remember that most of them have a superficial root system and need additional insulation of the trunk circle. Use fallen needles, sawdust, spruce branches for this: cover the ground well around the trunk - in a harsh winter this will protect the roots from freezing.

Next, you need to cover the trees themselves. For this, various materials are used: most often it is pine, spruce spruce branches, burlap, spandbond, roofing material, lutrasil. It is strongly discouraged to take polyethylene and other "non-breathable" materials - this leads to plant arguments, fungal diseases, and burns.

It is not easy to find a covering material for conifers: on the one hand, it must provide them with protection from frost, on the other, from winter burns, which trees usually receive from January to March. If you use artificial non-woven materials (spandbond, agrotex, etc.), remember that you must not overheat the trees, do not wrap them tightly, leave ventilation holes in the hut.

Experts, explaining how to insulate conifers for the winter, do not recommend starting this earlier than mid-November. Plants should harden slightly and get used to freezing temperatures. When the frosts reach an average of -7 degrees, tie the plants with twine, then wrap each with burlap and cover in several layers with the chosen material.

If the plant is brittle, fragile, you cannot tie it up - you will need a special frame, which can be bought at any garden center. You can make a frame in the shape of a pyramid or a cube yourself - from wood, thick wire. Install a frame over brittle trees, then cover it with burlap. On top of it, cover the tree with a covering material, for example, 2-3 layers of spruce branches.

The lapnik can be fastened with a garden stapler, wrapped with twine - the constructed hut should be as resistant to winds as possible. In such a shelter, a coniferous tree can calmly winter until the onset of stable heat. The hut should be disassembled gradually, at the end of March at temperatures from 0 to +5 degrees. First, spruce branches are removed layer by layer, a week later - burlap.

Fans of coniferous plantations living in central Russia dream of evergreen decoration of the local area.Despite the frost resistance of conifers, young seedlings need protection for the winter period. How we shelter ephedra for the winter, and other methods of protection from ice and snow, will be discussed in this article.

Why harbor winter-hardy crops?

Almost all coniferous plantations, from trees to low-growing shrubs, are unpretentious and frost-resistant. Both thuja and spruce attract the attention of gardeners not only with their beautiful appearance, but also with resistance to diseases, pests, and also exude a wonderful coniferous aroma. In addition, they are excellent antiseptics.

For the love of the decorative type of plant, it is planted along alleys, near administrative buildings, as well as in parks and gardens. But, despite such positive characteristics, conifers need shelter for the winter. Namely, young seedlings that are not yet 3-4 years old are considered weak and need protection. There are two aspects that are detrimental to evergreen crops:

1. strong frosty wind;
2. spring sunbeams reflecting off snow.

Why exactly wind and sunlight? The fact is that the winter wind causes severe dryness of the branches, and from the lack of moisture they freeze, break off and die off. If you watched a beautiful spruce tree with a withered appendage and yellowed needles, then you should know that this was due to the cold and strong wind. If the needles of trees are able to withstand severe frost, then it does not like the wind.

Everyone knows that the thaw at the end of February and March is characterized by a bright sun, the rays of which are reflected on the white snow. At this time, sap flow has not yet begun, and the bushes are still weak and vulnerable. Then pine needles and green thuja legs under bright light can get sunburn. Therefore, it becomes necessary to shelter the culture for the winter, not to mention the breaking of the branches under the weight of the adhered snow.

Protection for medium-sized shrubs

To shelter coniferous bushes that have not yet reached 3 years of age for the winter, we first bend the branches to the trunk of the tree. To do this, we take a string, preferably green or the color of the trunk, and, without pressing hard, lightly wrap it with a cord so that the legs of the trunks do not stick out. After that, we take a non-woven material or spunbond, and determine the size of the future bag. Then we fix the seam with a stapler.

To date, manufacturers offer ready-made agrotex bags of various sizes. Spruce and pine need autumn shelter only in the first year of life.

How to cover shrubs and young trees of medium height, so as not to damage the crown and preserve the integrity of the culture as much as possible? For this, a wooden frame is constructed from bars of medium thickness.

Advice! "You can make a frame out of an elastic plastic mesh, which is very convenient because of its flexibility."

It is better not to install an iron or wire frame, since the metal conducts cold and can cause frostbite on the branches.

After preparing the walls of the frame, we wrap it with a covering material. It is better not to use polyethylene for these purposes, as it collects moisture. The moisture accumulated under the film freezes during the winter cold and does not contribute to thermal insulation or leads to decay and the appearance of mold. In addition, polyethylene can not withstand low temperatures and burst, allowing the penetration of snow and cold winds. To protect conifers for the winter, it is better to use:

• burlap;
• spunbond;
• kraft paper;
• agrofiber;
• lutrasin;
• agrospan.

Any of the listed materials, except for kraft paper, can be stapled to a wooden frame. You can wrap the insulation around the mesh by joining the ends into a single seam.

Any agrofiber should be of medium thickness for air intake (sometimes they leave a small gap or do not fix the top), but not tear from strong gusts of wind. After winter, you need to remove shelters in early April or late March, when it gets warmer and sap flow begins. Moderate snow melting and an air temperature close to 0 ° C will tell you when to open the insulation.

If your pets have reached the age of 4, and you did not shelter them, but only pulled them with twine, then we do the following shenanigans. At the end of February, on the south side of the garden, we install an awning made of any available covering material. Our goal is to create a shade curtain so that conifers do not get sunburn from the blinding sun.

Protection for low-growing shrubs

If your juniper or cedar is too young, or you are a fan of low-growing crops, then the amount of insulation work is significantly reduced. It is enough to stock up on spruce branches in the forest and cover the seedlings with it in the form of cone-shaped houses. Thrifty owners prefer to install plastic containers on top of the spruce branches for reliable fixation and maintenance of the temperature regime.

The industrial business satisfies any demand and therefore the Moscow Region is provided with a covering material for planting in full. It is sold in the form of cone-shaped bags with a pulling rope from the bottom. To prevent the ends of coniferous paws from turning yellow, it is enough to use special bags.

Agronomist's advice! "For young conifers with a weak root system, it is necessary to sprinkle sawdust or mulch at the roots before sheltering for the winter."

Additional care

Despite the winter hardiness and unpretentiousness of the culture, mineral feeding will not hurt. Especially for freshly planted crops in the fall, so that they can take root until spring. The plant must be strong and disease resistant. How to feed pets on the eve of cold weather?

Let's describe a few steps leading to successful acclimatization and overwintering:

1. in the fall we water 50-60 cm deep not only near the root, but also in the radius of the root system. In case of heavy autumn rains, the procedure is canceled;
2. near-trunk mulching with organic matter (needles, pine bark, sawdust, spruce branches, hay, etc.) is poured into 1-2 layers, not thicker, so that rodents do not make a nest;
3. feeding with vermicompost and compost will support the vitality of conifers, as well as the introduction of magnesium with dolomite flour;
4. nitrogen in large quantities and manure can harm plantings;
5. in spring, at temperatures from +10 ° C, it is recommended to carry out treatment with biostimulants: epin, HB 101, Zircon. Sometimes it is enough to spray the crown with warm water and hide it from the sun.

It is much more expedient to take care of conifers than to restore them as a result of a careless attitude.

What and how to cover conifers in winter?

Prepare conifers and shrubs before winter. In order to avoid breaks from a pile of snow, branches of vertically growing junipers and thujas are neatly tied. An ordinary twine is suitable for this.

Kraft paper, burlap, nonwovens such as agrospan, lutrasil, spunbond can be used as a covering material. At home, you can even use newsprint and wrapping paper for shading. The only condition is that the material must "breathe", so films and plastic are unsuitable.

Snow around the plant is trampled or cleared. Now wrap the material around it, completely covering the needles. Fasten the seams with a stapler, leave a breathing gap at the top (on the shady side, so that the sun's rays do not fall on the needles). There is also a frame method of shelter - a frame is installed around the plant and covered with a cap sewn from agrospan. The shelter and the cap are secured with pegs. You can see the types of frame shelters on our website.

Adult, long-planted plants in some frosty and sunny winters are enough to shade with a fine mesh on the sunny side.

When is the shelter removed?

Taking cover requires great care and several conditions. First, it is necessary that the ground thaws no less than the depth of the bayonet and the root system of the plant begins to work. This happens around the end of April.

Secondly, the shelter is removed in cloudy weather so that a sudden change in illumination and direct rays does not shock the needles. Ideal if you have studied the weather forecast in advance and opened the plants on the eve of an overcast period of 4-7 days. Then your conifers will be able to gradually adapt to the light regime and painlessly switch from hibernation to growth.