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Landscaping Tips for the Month of December
Planning:
- Use garden notes, photos and sketches to assess areas which need plants
- Determine types and quantities of plants to order
- Begin to order plants from seed and nursery catalogues
Chores and Maintenance:
- After ground freezes, mulch perennial and bulb planting beds. The mulch will prevent heaving during the alternate freeze/thaw cycle
- Tie and support evergreen shrubs to avoid breakage from winter snow
- Continue to provide burlap windbreaks for boxwood and broad-leaved evergreens unitl ground freezes
- Complete protection of trees from mouse damage with wire mesh trunk guards
- Continue to protect shrubs from deer with burlap or netting
- Avoid the use of salt to melt snow as it is toxic to most plants. Use sawdust, sand or cat litter
- Keep bird feeders filled throughout winter
Pruning/Fertilizing:
- Prune evergreen branches to use in holiday decorating
- Continue to rejuvenate overgrown shrubs as weather permits, until new growth begins in spring
Indoors:
- Keep newly purchased Christmas trees in a bucket of water in a cool place
- Set up Christmas tree in a reservoir stand. Cut on a slant about 1? above existing cut for optimum water absorption
- Be sure to keep reservoir filled and place tree in the coolest part of the room
- Sterilize the tree stand with a solution of boiling water, vinegar, and household bleach after use
- When buying houseplants in winter be sure to wrap them well for the trip home. This prevents the foliage from freezing and protects tropicals from drafts
- Give houseplants as much light as possible as days grow shorter
- Hold off on fertilizing indoor plants until spring
- Provide houseplants with increased humidity; mist often or place plants over a tray of moist pebbles
- Continue to plant prepared bulbs for indoor forcing
- As houseplants grow more slowly during winter, increase the time between waterings but do not cut back on the amount of water
- On frigid nights protect indoor plants from freezing; move them away from the glass or cover glass with thick newspaper or cardboard
- Clean leaves of large and smooth- leaved house plants like dracaena, philodendron, ficus etc
