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Winter Protection

In regions where the winters are severe it is advisable to give some winter protection to the perennial garden to prevent the plant roots from heaving out of the soil thus becoming dislodged as a result of the alternate freezing and thawing of the ground. The beds are, therefore, mulched to keep in the cold and thus prevent thawing of the ground immediately around [181] the plants until the proper season arrives. Materials used for this purpose are straw, strawy manure, leaves slightly weighted down with corn fodder, straw, or evergreen boughs. It is important to do the mulching when both the ground and the material used are perfectly dry, thus avoiding danger of rotting the plants during the course of the winter.

Cover very lightly the tops of any plants whose foliage remains green all winter, avoiding the use of any mulch that will mat down or rot their crowns. Before the protection is put on cut down the dead stalks to within a few inches of the ground and apply the covering in the late fall, after frost has formed a hard crust over the surface of the soil.