Trees, Shrubs, and Groundcovers

• Evergreen Pruning... Light pruning of both needle and broadleaf evergreens is recommended in late fall to encourage a strong framework to help the plant overcome any snow damage. Simply remove any weak or crowded branches with a pair of clean sharp pruners.
  
  
• If you are an early Christmas tree shopper looking for a live tree for the holidays, be sure to select a Christmas tree that will survive in your climate and soil. White pine (Pinus strobus), Norway spruce (Picea abies), and blue spruce (Picea pungens) are excellent choices for live Christmas trees that can also be planted outdoors after the holidays.
  
  
• The next time you see a squirrel storing nuts in your yard, remember that he is planting a tree! Watch the squirrel's nut stash turn into a beautiful tree, a source of oxygen, shade, and a new wildlife habitat.
  
  
• To decorate window boxes and other outdoor containers for the holidays, insert evergreen branches into the soil. If the soil is frozen, soften it with warm water first. Balsam fir branches will hold their blue-green needles until spring. Try bittersweet, holly berries, and strawflowers for color.
  
  
• To protect an upright evergreen from snow damage, drive a strong stake into the ground near the trunk of the tree. Tie a rope to the bottom of the stake and, using the rope, wind up the branches in a circular pattern around the tree. This is a two person job on large trees. At the top, secure the rope to the stake.
  
  
• Pine cones, sweet gum balls, and seed pods of many plants, such as redbud and milkweed, add a beautiful touch to holiday ornaments. You can still collect many of these, if you take a walk along a hedge row or through a park or a weedy field.
  
  
• Twig arrangements are different and easy to make. Collect twigs with unusual features; for example, winged elm, corkscrew willow, redosier dogwood, and crepe myrtle.
  
  
• Check guy wires around newly planted trees to be sure hose sections still cover the supporting wires or ropes so they will not damage the trunks in windy weather.
  
  
• Continue deep watering of evergreens until freezing weather occurs.
  
  
• Cut away suckers from the base of lilacs, forsythia, and crape myrtle.
  
  
• Erect wind breaks to protect newly planted evergreens,especially tender, broad-leaved types, such as Japanese holly and camellia.
  
  
• If roses are to be planted, do so before the ground freezes, and water well.
  
  
• Roots of woody ornamentals used as container plants may be killed if soil temperatures get very cold. Among the least hardy are aucuba, English boxwood, camellia, pampas grass, bearberry, cotoneaster, English holly, Japanese holly, star magnolia, and nandina. Their roots are killed when the soil temperature is 20 to 25F.
  
  
• Clean up rose beds. Be sure all diseased leaves are raked up and destroyed. Spring (before the plants start active growth) is the preferred season for pruning roses. Do not cut off canes in the fall. It is better to stake and tie extra long canes in fall to prevent winter wind damage.
  
  
• Fertilize wisteria after leaves have fallen to avoid excess top growth and lack of bloom.
  
  
• Select accent plants for your landscape that will provide interesting autumn colors. Trees that turn red include dogwood, black gum, red maple, sweet gum, and red or scarlet oak. Shrubs with red fall foliage include viburnum, winged euonymus, and barberry.
  
  
• Leaf fall makes renovation of overgrown deciduous shrubs easier. Begin this year by removing all diseased or broken stems. Next, remove 1/3 of all remaining shoots, eliminating the oldest and tallest. If the bush is still too tall, cut the remaining stems to a side bud or branch. Repeat the process a second or third year to complete renovation.
  
  
• Trim hollies and other evergreens, such as magnolia, aucuba, boxwood, and pyracantha, to furnish material for Thanksgiving decorations.
  
  
• If you are planning on having a live, balled and burlapped Christmas tree, dig a planting hole now before the ground freezes. Fill the hole with straw or hay to keep it from freezing. Store the soil in a garage or shed so you will have workable soil when you need it for planting the tree.
  
  
• If fall rains have been scarce, water landscape evergreens thoroughly once every week or so until the ground freezes. Evergreens continue to lose moisture from their foliage all winter, but once the ground is frozen, they'll be unable to take up enough water to replace it. Sending them into winter well watered reduces the potential for damaged foliage. Broadleaved and tender evergreens exposed to drying winds and sun may need to be shaded on the south and southwest sides to reduce moisture loss and foliage injury.
  
  
• Inspect trees and shrubs for bagworm capsules and the silvery egg masses of tent caterpillars. Remove and destroy them to reduce next year's pest population.
  
  
• The best way to prevent winter damage to shrubs is to select hardy species before buying and planting. Consult publications containing information on the climatic zones for the shrubs you are interested in planting. It is better to select hardy species in the first place than to attempt to protect tender plants later.
  
  
• Newly planted shade trees, especially those with smooth bark, are often injured by temperature fluctuations and strong winter sunshine. Prevent sunscald by wrapping the tree trunks with commercial tree wrap, 4-inch burlap strips, or simply shading with a board against the south side of the trunk.
  
  
• Protect the roots of azaleas and rhododendrons with a heavy mulch of organic materials, such as oak leaves, wood chips, or pine needles.
  
  
• Broadleaf evergreens may need to be protected to prevent drying out during the winter. Branches of pines or other evergreens thrust into the ground around the plants work well. Where boughs are not plentiful, a screen of wooden boards, corn stalks, or burlap tacked to wooden frames will serve the purpose. Consider moving the plant to a more protected spot rather than repeating this unattractive procedure every year.
  
  
• If there is any evidence of scale on trees and shrubs, spray with dormant oil in late fall and again in early spring.
  
  
• Avoid transplanting shrubs and trees on sunny or windy days. On these days, the roots are exposed to too much light or drying winds, putting undue stress on the plant.
  
  
• Nurserymen and landscape architects may be less busy over the next few months and be more available to help you with plans for improving your landscape.
  
  
• Where circumstances necessitate very late planting of trees and shrubs, remember to mulch the area heavily to keep the ground thawed so roots can become established.