Contents
Chrysanthemum, which is often called the queen of the autumn garden, attracts the attention of gardeners with a variety of shapes and colors of inflorescences. You can increase the viability of your favorite plants by providing proper care and appropriate growing conditions. Today we will share recommendations and tips on how to cover chrysanthemums for the winter.
Classification by winter hardiness
Chrysanthemum is one of the brightest and most beautiful garden crops, which is grown in all regions of Our Country. To date, domestic and foreign breeders have bred more than a hundred species and varieties of this amazingly beautiful flower. Varieties of domestic selection are distinguished by winter hardiness and endurance, but foreign crops are fragile and tender.
The small-colored Korean chrysanthemum, which is popularly called “oak”, winters well. Freezing of shoots occurs during snowy and severe winters. For cold regions, planting of varieties Ryzhik, Umka and Yunost is recommended. Large-flowered bouquet chrysanthemums often freeze and do not recover with the advent of spring. However, with a well-organized shelter, such varieties as Flamingo, Gazelle, Sonechko and Anna Yaroslavna winter well. The chrysanthemum ball is considered the weakest and most unstable to winter frosts. Among gardeners, the varieties Ares, Trike White and Natalie are popular.
Video: “Preparing and sheltering chrysanthemums for the winter”
From this video you will learn how to properly cover garden flowers in anticipation of a cold winter.
Autumn work front
Shelter of chrysanthemums begins with the preparation of flowering crops for the upcoming cold and frost. After the garden plot has been removed from weeds, tops, fallen leaves and other vegetation, you can proceed to inspect the plants for signs of pests and diseases. Most harmful insects and pathogens of fungal and bacterial infections successfully overwinter with horticultural crops. With the advent of spring, pest activity increases. For this reason, it is recommended to carry out an autumn preventive treatment of the garden with special microbiological preparations that protect against the spread of insects and diseases.
Autumn is the time for watering and fertilizing the vegetation in the garden. In order for flowering crops to overwinter well, they need moisture and various nutritious and beneficial microelements. If autumn turned out to be stingy with precipitation, the soil should be thoroughly moistened. At the same time, try to avoid excess moisture in the soil, since some varieties of chrysanthemum tolerate drought more easily than waterlogging the soil.
After watering, mineral fertilizers are applied under each chrysanthemum bush. For the autumn period, you should choose complex potassium-phosphorus supplements that increase the viability of plants and maintain their healthy and strong appearance.
Preparing chrysanthemums for winter involves pruning shrubs. Autumn pruning of chrysanthemums is carried out with the onset of the first cold weather. The main stems are cut at a level of 10-15 cm from the ground, short young shoots are left intact. It is necessary to cut not only bushes wintering on the street, but also chrysanthemums, which are cleaned in a greenhouse, basement or cellar.
What to do for safety
Do not rush with additional shelter for chrysanthemums, you should focus on the weather forecast. Too early warming can lead to the decay of flowering crops.
Mulching
The easiest way to shelter plants for the winter is mulching. As mulch, tree bark and sawdust, hay and straw, fallen leaves and spruce branches, pieces of thick cardboard and the remains of covering material are used. The mulching layer should be 12–17 cm high.
This wintering method is suitable for the southern regions. If the winter in the Moscow region and other central regions is warm and snowy, chrysanthemum bushes do not need additional warming.
underground storage
The method, known among gardeners as “storage under the ground”, is used for little snow and cold winters. After flowering, only flower stalks and dried stems are cut, the rest of the branches are collected in a bunch. A bundle tied with twine is carefully bent to the ground, sprinkled with dry sand and fallen leaves, and warmed from above with any non-woven covering material. Burlap, agrofibre, geofabric, white polypropylene bags or lutrasil can be used to cover flowering crops.
Building a dome
The most effective method of protecting chrysanthemums from frost is considered to be a domed or tunnel structure. The branches of an ornamental shrub are tied into a bundle and bent to the ground, a layer of fallen leaves, peat, sawdust and sand is poured on top, or covered with pine branches. A structure in the form of a dome or an elongated tunnel is placed on top of the covered plants and fixed on the sides with wooden beams, stones or bricks.
The dome and tunnel for storing flowering crops is a frame structure made of curved metal slats and covering material stretched from above. Storage under a dome / tunnel is often used by gardeners in Siberia and the Urals.
Winter storage
When choosing a storage method for flowering horticultural crops, it is recommended to take into account the varietal characteristics of plants and the characteristics of the climatic zone of growth. This issue is especially acute in the northern and eastern regions, where winters are distinguished by their severity and duration.
Most gardeners in Siberia and the Urals prefer not to leave chrysanthemums in the open field for the winter. So, let’s figure out where to store the flowers dug out of the ground.
In the trench
Prepare a pit for storing flowering crops in advance. The optimal place for digging a trench is a hill protected from wind and cold. Undesirable proximity to groundwater. First, a ditch is dug 0,5–1 m deep, the bottom and walls of which are insulated with expanded clay, boards or bricks.
After excavation from the ground, chrysanthemum seedlings are sent for wintering in previously prepared trenches. Plants are laid directly on the floor and covered with nutrient soil. The trench is covered with boards, foam plastic, slate and other covering materials.
In the cellar
Ornamental crops growing in open ground are dug up in such a way as not to damage the root system. Chrysanthemums, along with the remnants of the soil, are transferred to the cellar and placed on wooden racks or directly on the floor. From above, the plants are covered with a covering material. Do not forget to monitor the microclimate in the cellar: the lack of fresh air can lead to mold.
In container
To store seedlings of flowering crops, plastic boxes, buckets and other unnecessary containers are used. Peat and coarse-grained river sand are poured inside the container with chrysanthemum in a ratio of 1: 1. You can store flowers in basements, sheds, insulated balconies and cellars, where the air temperature ranges from +1 … +5 ° C.
The main condition for the storage of chrysanthemums is the stability of the microclimate. If it is impossible to create favorable wintering conditions in the open field, it is better to dig up the flowers and move them to a more secluded place.
Features of caring for dwarf and spherical varieties
The popularity of chrysanthemums is growing from year to year, breeders are constantly working on breeding new varieties and varieties of this ornamental crop. Relatively recently, dwarf and spherical chrysanthemums appeared.
Globular chrysanthemums growing in open ground are dug up, slightly dried in the shade, cleaned of dry earth and stored all winter in containers with straw and sawdust. Wintering in the open ground is allowed only in the southern regions, where the air temperature rarely drops below zero. But in order for ornamental shrubs to successfully winter, they need to be mulched and covered with pine spruce branches.
As for dwarf chrysanthemums, these ornamental crops are intended for indoor floriculture. In the regions of central Our Country, this type of chrysanthemum is cultivated mainly on balconies and glazed loggias. At the end of the flowering period, the bushes are pruned, leaving stems no longer than 8–10 cm long. The recommended air temperature for the “rest” period is +8 ° C. The frequency of irrigation is determined by humidity and temperature conditions.
Newbie mistakes
Caring for chrysanthemums in autumn and preparing flowering crops for wintering will not take much time for an experienced gardener, which cannot be said about beginners. Ignorance or violation of the technology of preparation and shelter of ornamental plants is the main reason for the death of flowers.
The most common mistake is the introduction of nitrogen-containing preparations into the soil. The plant throws all its strength into building up the vegetative mass, while endurance and winter hardiness fall.
Untimely pruning also negatively affects the varietal characteristics of the crops grown. Please note that there is no single scheme for the correct wintering of chrysanthemums. Some varieties can winter on the street, others need to be carefully insulated, others must be dug up and stored in cellars.
In order for the flowers to successfully overwinter, it is recommended to select planting material in accordance with the climatic zone of growth and carefully study the varietal characteristics of plants cultivated in the garden.