The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1914-11-20
HOW AND WHEN TO
PROTECT HARDY PLANTS
BY Adeline Thayer Thomson

BY Adeline Thayer Thomson
Just how and when to cover the
perennial plants, shrubs and vines
that they may be safe from the raw
ages of winter, troubles many wor-
shipper of the garden at the approach
of fall. There is, indeed, reason for
anxiety on this question, for a large
per cent of valuable hardy stock is
sacrificed needlessly each season be-
cause of ignorance on the part of the
grower.
That perennials need protection in
the fall is fact pretty generally UNI
derstood, such information being
touched upon in almost all of the
seed catalogues. On account of this
very bit of wisdom, however, more
plants perish under a thick covering
of manure or litter than actually
succumb from too scanty shelter.
Now, to use manure as a mulch is all
right, but there is a right and wrong
way of employing it; the time it is
spread and the state of the manure
constituting all the difference in the
world as to whether the effect on
the plants will be good or bad.
1t is never safe to mulch hardy
stock with manure until after the
ground freezes Even then, it should
be we'll rotted, rest upon founda-
tion of dry leaves and either be raked
off in early spring or at that time
dug we'll into the soil about the
plants. Most hardy varieties possess
top growth until after freezing
= weather. To cut off all air and sun
shine, therefore, with any kind of
an impervious coating before growth
becomes dormant either smothers
life entirely, as has already been
said or induces rapid and sure de-
, cay of root development. When life
in the stalk on the other hand, has
been checked by hard freeze, ma
, nure may be used to great advantage,
for it not only provides a warm and
safe covering, keeping the plants Sc
: cure from thawing .upheavels
: throughout the winter, but the fer
tilizing qualities of the manure soak
ed into the soil by the melting snow,
ice and rain of early spring, stimulate
the plants to a stronger and thriftier
growth the following season. There
are two or three varieties among the
hardy garden plants which resent the
manure mulch-the foxglove, canter-
! bury-bell, hollyhock and the iris
family thriving only under covering
of leaves or dry litter, their crowns
exposed to the air.
A three or four inch covering of
, leaves raked from the lawn will also
: furnish safe shelter for all hardy
stock. Indeed. many gardeners pre-
) fer this mulch to any other, using
dry commercial fertilizer or the rot
, ted manure for enriching purposes
, in the spring. The leaf mulch may
{ be started earlier in the fall, as this
J is shelter perfectly porous in ma
ture. The first frost is a good warn
, ing. Yet much the safest plan to
| follow is to start operations when
Dame Nature commences in earnest
, to spread over the earth her thick
, brown covering of leaves, as frost
, ofttimes is belated and severe
weather sets in Immediately after
ward. AS early as mid October and
not later than the second week in No
vember should find the perennials
tucked away for their long winters
, sleep.
: Regarding the protection of vines,
a close warm mulch about their roots
, preferably of manure) generally Is
all that is needed. The long branches
| of the tender climbing roses, how
. ever, winter in better condition If
they are released from their supports,
, laid fiat on the ground and covered
well with leaves or coarse litter. The
hinged supports now on the market
for hardy vines will be found very
convenient for tender varieties that
need ground covering.