Preparing Your Hamptons Garden for Winter

By Hamptons East Landscaping

3 minute 12/07/2011

Winter has many homeowners in the Hamptons worried about their gardens and yards. That’s understandable—cold, harsh weather needs to be accounted for if you want a beautiful yard next spring. Many of you have asked Hamptons East Landscaping about ways you can protect your trees, shrubs and plants for the winter, so from mulching to pruning to spraying, here are 5 tips to follow before winter settles in on the East End.

•Let’s start by talking about protecting a perennial bed. If a mole problem is not an issue, you can put a layer of leaves over the bed. Do not do this after December. But if moles are an issue I do not recommend this, due to their tunneling and hiding, which allows them to eat the bee roots on the plants.

•For roses I recommend using dehydrated manure and building a small mound around the plant. This keeps root system protected in winter, and in the spring you cultivate it into ground.

•Try never to prune roses until December—we don’t want to prune too early, which tells the plant to push new growth. I like to prune in winter and very early spring. The reason is that plants, trees and bushes are living things.

•Don’t forget to spray your rhododendrons with Wilt-pruf.

•Cut dead flowers off hydrangeas, but don’t prune until April so you can see what kind of winter damage you have.

Bonus Tip! I have even seen people put a small chicken wire around a garden and then fill it with leaves to protect from frost damage. It does work.

Have more questions about getting your yard ready for winter? You can contact Hamptons East Landscaping at (631) 885-2627 or at hamptonseastlandscaping.com. You might even see your questions answered here at Ask the Expert.