Re: Winterizing Garden/Mulching
> Best bet is to let them adapt to the chill, mulching only when the actual
> COLD threatens. In my case, this means late October,
Sue sounds correct in her advice not to mulch too soon. For years, the
only thing I heavily mulched (with styrofoam cones and hay or leaves)
were roses and a very few borderline perennials.
But I thought the advice was to wait until the ground actually
froze--here in Zone 4 Wisconsin, that is most apt to be December. The
purpose, of course, is to KEEP the ground frozen to prevent the root
breaking freeze-thaw cycles that we get sometimes in a January thaw and
always in early Spring.
But maybe in Oregon, the mulch is for moisture retention or wind
protection (winter winds are bad guys here, too). What is the winter
mulch wisdom in your part of the world?
--
Barb Perna
Southcental WI, Zone 4 (Can get to -25 F.)
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