Tips from Olle Garden Bed: December Gardening

Some people may think that it is a little late to talk about the winter protection of plants in December, but in fact, most growers agree that for plants at the edge of cold tolerance, the real key is to absorb water from leaves and branches at the end of winter when warm sunshine and dry wind make the roots unable to replenish water due to cold or frozen soil. So if you procrastinate, don't worry too much, but on the other hand, don't procrastinate too long. The following content also has some reference value for raised garden beds.

Trim

It may be necessary to take advantage of those comfortable days when working outdoors and be busy pruning trees and shrubs. I particularly hope to start pruning trees that will "bleed" in the end of winter or early spring. Although we were told that this bleeding would not cause any harm, it did prevent people from immediately applying a protective coat of paint to the wound. So if you have any maples to trim, trim them now or wait until mid summer. Dead and diseased branches should be the first concern. Whether to cut off any healthy ones depends on the purpose you see. If you want to improve the symmetry of a tree, you can do so now. But if you want to limit a tree that is growing too vigorously, you'd better wait until the winter and summer pruning stimulate the growth of strong branches, while summer pruning often makes it strange.

Don't trim shrubs indiscriminately

Before pruning shrubs, you should fully understand their flowering habits, otherwise it may cause more harm than good. Most early flowering shrubs begin to form flower buds in autumn. Any extensive pruning during the dormancy period of the shrubs will reduce the number of flowers produced in the next spring. One good thing to remember when trimming is to lie on your stomach in a way that maintains the natural shape of the bash. Usually this means that the primer should be a dilution process, limited to removing dead and worn brandy.

Before pruning by bonfire treatment, please check them in order to save valuable pruning that may be supported by plants next year. Many low growing perennial plants, such as Veronica, Tokrim, Potentilla, Coreopsis and Gypsophila, can support them more effectively and artistically by pushing the branches into the surrounding ground before they complete their growth, rather than through the more common methods of wooden stakes and hemp ropes. If the plants to be supported are to be planted in rows so that fan-shaped supports are desirable, the selected trims should be placed on the ground and weighted with boards to press them into the desired shape. If this is done fairly early in winter, the boards will retain their desired shape when removed before use.

Pest

Those who live in tent caterpillars, gypsy moths and grass moths can spend a little time in winter to find and destroy the eggs of these pests. The mahogany brown caterpillar of the tent caterpillar was found on the young branch, almost completely surrounding them. Usually, the most convenient way to get rid of them is to cut off the branches with eggs and destroy them by burning. Gypsy moths and meadow moths lay eggs in clusters. Removing eggs mechanically or smearing them with a paint brush dipped in creosote is a useful winter drudgery.

Any garden debris that may contain insect or fungal pests and therefore unsuitable for composting should be destroyed by burning. This includes the tops of peonies that may carry Botrytis cinerea and rose leaves that contain winter spores or black spots.

Proliferation

It is not too late to carry out hardwood cuttings for deciduous shrubs. As mentioned in the previous calendar (October), these should be cut into 6 to 10 inches, bundled, buried in wet sand or peat moss, and kept cold in winter, but not frozen. If there are cuttings of evergreen plants in the greenhouse, such as arbor, yew, juniper, platycodon grandiflorum, box and spinulosa spinulosa, they can be inserted into the breeding workbench.

Forced bulb. Bulbs should be brought in from outdoor planting pits at regular intervals for mandatory use at home or in greenhouses. Don't expose them to too high a temperature at first. Give them a few weeks at 50 °, then raise them to 65 °.