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January 2005 The Shoreline Page 9 Winter Gardening By Karen Neill, NCSU Agriculture Extension Ornamentals Protecting plants from the cold is a way of life for southern gardeners. To protect the roots, I would encourage you to mulch with two to four inches of organic matter. Pine needles, pine bark, shredded hardwood and even leaves can be used. Mulch insulates the soil and slows the loss of heat from the ground to the air above. Mulched soils will be several degrees wanner than unmulched soils. Second, if they are calling for extremely cold temperatures, it is a good idea to water your evergreen thoroughly several days be fore the cold weather arrives so that the plant can take up the water. Once the soil freezes, the root system will not be able to draw in moisture even though it may be losing mois ture during transpiration. This can often lead to “winter bum,” browning of the foliage usually around the leaf margins. Choosing the right plant for the right loca tion goes along way toward helping plants survive the winter. If, God forbid, it does ice again this year, let the ice melt of on its own. You can cause further damage by trying to shake it off. Snow is a different story, if we have a nice dusting of snow, you can in fact brush the snow off of evergreens like holly to prevent buildup and breakage. Remove Ice without Harming Plants Taken from the January/February 2001 is sue of Extension Successful Garden News letter. For safety’s sake, it is important to keep driving and walking surfaces on your prop erty free of ice and snow. However, some ice removal products can harm vegetation. Be fore applying a product for ice control, con sider these points. The key is being prepared before a storm occurs. All of the following products work well to prevent the formation of ice by lower ing the freezing point of water. However, applying these materials after ice has formed will provide marginal relief at best. Once melted, though, these products will prevent or discourage refreezing. Sand applied to an already frozen surface may slightly improve traction. What’s Safe and what’s not? •Rock salt is safe to handle and can’t harm your skin, carpets or floors, but will harm vegetation. •Using fertilizers or ice control agents con taining urea generally do not harm vegeta tion, but they do contribute additional nitro gen and phosphorus pollutants to our rivers and streams. •Calcium chloride is effective for ice con trol but unsafe for vegetation and requires skin protection to apply. •Ammonium sulfate is not practical as it disintegrates concrete, bricks and masonry. •Potassium/sodium chloride blends are safe to handle and do not harm vegetation. Most problems that occur usually are due to incorrect application, overuse of the prod uct (more application of the product doesn’t mean that it will work better or faster) and improper disposal of the leftover product. Piling up of removed snow and ice promotes concentration of potential ly dangerous chemi cals. The most enviro-friendly approach is to allow the sun and temperature to loosen the ice, then physically remove it. Is it the safest for you? Houseplants: If you’d like to give a gardener on your list something other than the bright red Poinsettia they received for Christmas, there are several other, well-deserving flowering plants that frequently go unnoticed. Many of these flowering plants are avail able in florist shops, supermarkets, garden centers, and greenhouses. By carefully se lecting and properly caring for these plants, you can ensure color throughout the holidays Amaryllis can be purchased at any stage in its development — from a single bulb all the way to the “puffy bud” stage. Make sure one third of the bulb (the “nose”) is above the soil line; place it in a sunny, warm location and watch the leaves and flower stem elongate. Gloxinias, close relatives of African vio lets, are low-growing, spreading plants with large, fleshy leaves and small, trumpet-shaped flowers. A high-quality plant will have at least three to five open flowers and at least that many more buds showing in the center of the plant. Cyclamen are a very popular florist’ pot plant, grown for their handsome white, rose or deep purple flowers. Perhaps the most durable of the red-flow- ering potted plants available this time of year are the kalanchoe and the ornamental pep pers. While the peppers have the longer home- life, both should last at least a month in the home. To prolong the bright color of the poinset tia bracts, daytime temperatures should not exceed 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Don’t put a poinsettia near drafts, excessive heat, or dry air from appliances, fireplaces or vent ducts. Lawns: Winter is not an active time for lawns but you will need to put that last fertilizer appli cation on this month if you have not already done so. This is an extremely important ap plication as it provides the lawn with the nutrients necessary to create stronger cell walls that help against the winter weather and provides the nutrients that the grass plant uses in generating further root growth this month before the soils become to cold. Also remember to get those leaves off the lawn as they can smother the grass, prohibit ing photosynthesis. Again, rake them to the curb not into the street if you have city pick up or better yet learn how to use them to your benefit by composting or using as mulch. When leaves are raked into the street, they interfere with street traffic but also can be washed down the storm drain causing water quality to decline. In The Vegetable Garden: There is not much happening in the veg etable garden right now. Root crops such as carrots, turnips, beets and onions can stay put and be harvested as you need them. A good layer of mulch will help keep the soil tem perature constant without the freezing and thawing that can happen this time of year. Turning the soil is important as it will help to expose insects and some of the weed seeds to the winter elements. Hopefully by now, you have removed all spent debris so as not to be harboring any pests for next year. These can be composted along with your leaves. 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The Shore Line (Pine Knoll Shores, N.C.)
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