Well the past few years it's been mild but pa has a real good potential to get brutal. I'm in the mountains so if it's a bad winter the air can get below 0 often. Again same thing with the snow. We get slammed with blizzards too but last couple winters we didn't get squat. I have a red maple, a couple small white pines, a azelea, and a couple junipers.
Everything you have will weather your winters without issue properly sited and mulched in, even if it falls below 0F. The azalea is very prone to wind burn when it's roots are encased in frozen soil, so a wind break might be in order.
Ok Dave, thanks. I was going to use burlap along with the mulch. Can I use a big sheet of plastic to work at a wind break?
Hey Grimmy. Thanks for the reply. I'll definitely hit you up in the next day or so. I have to get my butt going. Next thing we know it , it will be snowing. Lol. Thanks again. Talk to you soonYou won't need one and as @rockm pointed out it would most likely be more harmful then good. In our area(s) it is pretty easy to winter most anything that requires being outside all winter... Feel free to call me and toss around ideas for your specific plants. I am pretty certain you will find it to be stress free and a lot easier then you expect
Grimmy
Burlap...
Plastic is not a good material to much with in the winter. If it's in contact with branches, foliage etc. (like if you throw it over plants in a cold spell) it hold moisture in and doesn't allow any air circulation. Both can mean dieback on the portion of the plant it touches. Burlap is always the go-to for throwing over trees to protect them from cold wind if you want to do that. Simply placing trees on the ground with a board fence against the prevailing wind is probably better.
Me too. And I been talking to a member about it
Outdoors...just outdoors...that's the path I'd take. The material you have, especially the pines and junipers, needs to be out in the cold and have a natural dormancy. And, I would add the burlap windshield mentioned...for the Azalea.
Yeah, snow is the best thing that can happen for overwintering. Here are some pic of the last blizzard that blew through here. I have large bonsai, most are over two feet some are three and a half. You'll have to take my word for it--they're underneath the snow--protected from the single digit wind. The cinder block in the second pic is on top of a stack of four...
Excellent. Perfect winter storage.
Would help us it you posted your geographic location--state, region etc. A lot depends on that information. In general a plastic cold frame CAN help, but it can also hurt (heat gain, jump in temperature inside can be rapid if it is sited in the wrong place...) You don't want to keep overwintering plants "warm" you want to keep them as cold as they can stand it for as long as possible until spring...
I do the same thing, my tarp is off at the moment, it got shredded in a windstorm, I also have a shade cloth inside on the East side to shade morning sun
