RE: Winterizing Garden/Mulching
- To: "'perennials@mallorn.com'" <perennials@mallorn.com>
- Subject: RE: Winterizing Garden/Mulching
- From: "* S* <S*@lhs.org>
- Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 15:49:20 -0700
> 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.
>
Here in the Willamette Valley, our average winter temp is right around
freezing, and our ground rarely (never?) freezes solid. Most plants that
are at all hardy will make it through our cold but not freezing winter with
a little help.
Yes, we have winds-- east winds out of the Columbia Gorge are the worst. I
am somewhat sheltered from those, but in the hardest hit place, Troutdale,
their City Hall actually publishes a list of wind-tolerant plants. And you
can't put down bark dust or mulch, because they blow away! (The standard
joke is that people in Troutdale mulch with rocks!). When the wind does
hit, the wind-chill factor really drops the cumulative temp.
In Oregon we are also prone to ice storms and "Silver Thaws", which cause a
lot of problem with plants, both from very cold temps and from breakage
after being encased in a solid inch (or more) of ice.
I mulch around the end of October or into November, depending on how severe
the weather is getting. I usually use medium bark much, topped with straw
and leaves. Works for me.
Sue P.
> 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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