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Shelter for chrysanthemums for the winter. Video
In regions where there are severe frosts in winter, flower lovers should make some effort to preserve chrysanthemums throughout the cold weather. The autumn chores of gardeners in such areas are not limited to pruning, they have to provide shelter for chrysanthemums for the winter, taking into account both the natural conditions on their site and the planned care during the entire growing season.
How to cover chrysanthemums for the winter
Start preparing chrysanthemums for wintering in late August – early September. Feed them with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, they will increase their frost resistance. Remove dried branches, check chrysanthemums for diseases, and if any are found, take the necessary treatment measures. It is known that only healthy plants tolerate wintering well. Spud the plants on all sides. Make sure that there are no pits around the bushes, in which water can accumulate that can cause the chrysanthemums to get wet. Cut off the plants immediately in front of the shelter, leaving stems no more than 10 cm high.
In an area where winters are not very frosty, it is enough to sprinkle the bushes with needles or shavings, and with the first snow, begin to cover them with a snow cover (throw snow). If the winters are fierce, it is necessary to build a serious shelter.
If the onset of winter in your area is unpredictable, start building the shelter gradually. First, place bricks on both sides of a bush or group of bushes, on which lay wide boards, sheets of iron or slate. If you plan to cover the chrysanthemums with a light covering material, do not forget to press on top with a brick or stone so that it will not be blown away by a gusty wind. Such a shelter will provide plants with good ventilation, prevent excessive moisture from entering the bushes, and create favorable conditions for wintering chrysanthemums in the open field.
As soon as real frosts come, additionally cover your flowers with spruce or fir spruce branches, straw or dry foliage. You can also use lutrasil or spunbond synthetic covering materials. Remember that the shelter was not too tight or heavy. And before severe cold weather, you should not cover the flowers in order to avoid their decay from high humidity and subsequent death. If there is no protection from moisture, in no case use peat or sawdust as a shelter, because under these materials the plants will most likely get wet and damp. But in any case, do not rush to carefully cover the chrysanthemums, because a light frost will do them good, it will harden them and prepare them for frost, they will become more hardy.
Another way to shelter chrysanthemums for the winter
If for some reason you cannot build a shelter over the chrysanthemums (for example, you planned to move the flower garden to another area or plant other crops in place of flowers), use another method. To do this, in a free area of the garden, dig a trench about 0,5 meters deep and about 70 cm wide.Cut the chrysanthemums, leaving stems no more than 10 cm high, and carefully dig each bush, keeping a clod of earth with roots (do not shake off the soil). Place the dug out plants in a trench, sprinkle with dry foliage or straw.
When sprinkling chrysanthemums with dry foliage, make sure that it is not collected under diseased plants, otherwise you will do the flowers a “disservice” by being able to protect them from frost, but not from pests and diseases that appear in spring
With the first frosts, cover the trench with sheets of slate or iron, or another material suitable for this case. Pour a layer of earth 10-15 cm high on top of the shelter.
This option for sheltering chrysanthemums for the winter is quite laborious, but this is not its only drawback. It happens that in such storage facilities, chrysanthemums awaken at the end of winter, when the earth begins to warm up a little on sunny days. Plants produce young shoots that, in the absence of light and real heat, stretch out and grow pale, thin and weak. The whole trouble is that you do not have the opportunity to check the condition of the chrysanthemums and help them in any way. The first method seems to be more favorable, since there is ventilation in the shelter, and the plants do not wake up ahead of time (although this also happens, since winters in central Russia are mostly unpredictable).
If you have built a shelter for chrysanthemums in the form of a trench, and the winter turned out to be warm, with frequent snow melting, take care of ventilation. To do this, simply drive sticks into the trenches on top of the snow, and then remove them. Let there be several such holes. Perhaps this will be enough to deliver fresh air to the plants.
When determining where to plant chrysanthemums in the garden, choose the driest point where the groundwater is deep. In this case, you do not have to build bulky flower shelters. It is enough to cut them off immediately after flowering, carefully sprinkle and sprinkle with dry foliage, cover with straw or coniferous spruce branches, and then gradually cover the snow, each time slightly compacting it.
Ways to shelter chrysanthemums for the winter
Any shelter – complex, with covering material or simple in the form of shavings, foliage and spruce branches after wintering must be removed in a timely manner. Chrysanthemums do not like waterlogging, they quickly rot (the plant withers, the stem and leaves turn brown) and die. Therefore, with the onset of spring, they cannot be left under cover for a long time, they need fresh air. By the way, they are not afraid of the cold spring, he even invigorates them …
Remember that different varieties of chrysanthemums handle winter differently. Some do not tolerate at all, they are suitable only for indoor breeding. Always ask the vendor what type of chrysanthemum you are purchasing. For example, it is believed that only varieties from the group of Korean chrysanthemums can tolerate frost well even without shelter. In fact, there are many winter-hardy varieties, among them: – “Dubok”; – “Valeroi”; – “Gold of Paris”; – “Chameleon”; – “Sun”; – “Helen” and others.
By the way, you can try to grow winter-hardy varieties yourself. They are obtained from early spring cuttings cut from the mother bush until mid-April. To do this, in the fall, when the chrysanthemum has faded, cut the bush, dig it out, trying not to damage the root system, and plant it in a prepared pot. Store the plant in a cool place (no higher than 5-7 degrees). One month before grafting, around mid-March, transfer the pot to a warm place. After 7-10 days, young shoots will appear from the roots, at this time, intensify watering. After 5-6 leaves appear on the stem, you can use it as a cutting. Place the cuttings in the refrigerator for 3-5 days (they will last longer), then plant them in boxes and water daily. As soon as you notice that rooting was successful (the growth of leaves becomes noticeable visually), reduce watering. Before planting in the ground (in central Russia this is the beginning of May), take out the box with young plants in the cold for hardening. Chrysanthemums grown in this way will not be afraid of frosty winters.
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