CHAPTER VIII 

 WINTER PROTECTION AND MULCHING 



REASONS FOR WINTER PROTECTION. Winter protection is necessary 

 under the following conditions: First When a plant is removed from 

 its natural habitat to one more severe; Second When plants are not 

 sufficiently hardy to withstand the new climatic conditions or ex- 

 posures; Third When it is desirable to retain ground moisture during 

 the winter for planting on exposed places, mounds and banks. Fourth 

 When plants (especially evergreens) are transplanted into a stiff clay 

 soil under climatic conditions where they will be subjected to consider- 

 able freezing and thawing and it becomes necessary to protect them 

 against heaving; Fifth When plants, especially rhododendrons and 

 other evergreens, must be protected against wind and sun which cause 

 so much damage on account of excessive evaporation of moisture from 

 the leaves at a time when no moisture is being taken into the plant 

 through the root system. Continued, steady cold and a permanent 

 covering of snow are generally sufficient to tide a plant through the 

 severest part of winter, but an open winter, followed by severe cold, 

 or the alternate freezing and thawing in spring, will work havoc. 

 Mulching, therefore, is equally important, not only to control sudden 

 changes in temperature in extreme weather, but also to maintain a cool, 

 even temperature in early spring. 



One of the common impressions in connection with mulching for 

 purposes of winter protection is that plants are really being pro- 

 tected against extreme cold. Nothing could be farther from the 

 truth. It is not possible to protect plants against freezing conditions, 

 especially during the cold winters of our north when frost enters the soil 

 to a depth of two to three feet. Under such conditions no normal 

 depth of mulch consisting of rotted leaves or manure could keep frost 

 out of the soil surrounding the roots of the plants. 



The real reason then is a different reason from that of being a desire 

 to ward off a freezing condition. It is the desire not of warding off the 

 cold but of preventing abnormal evaporation of moisture from the 



100 



