PROTECTING YOUR LEE’S SUMMIT, MO LAWN AND LANDSCAPE FROM WINTER DAMAGE
While there is no perfect solution to completely protect your Lee’s Summit, MO landscapes, you can practice some preventative measures to lessen the likelihood of plant damage over the winter season.
HERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOUR PLANTS:
You can protect your tree trunks from sunscald and frost cracks by either painting white latex paint around your trunks that face the south or southwestern parts of your property. The sun’s light will be deflected from the tree, avoiding any damage from quick warm ups and dropping temperatures. And if you find white-painted tree trunks to be unattractive, you can also wrap paper or other materials around your trunks to protect them over the winter.
You can protect your delicate evergreens from heavy snow and ice, as well as from winter desiccation, by wrapping them in burlap or heavy twine. But make sure that you leave an opening at the top to allow sunlight to flow in over the winter.
You can protect your trees and shrubs from frost damage by waiting until mid-spring to prune them.
To protect your trees and shrubs from leaf scorch, winterburn, and leaf blight, make sure that during the remaining days of fall, you give your trees and shrubs enough water to soak deeply into the ground. Your woody plants are able to develop strong root systems when they’re properly irrigated.
To keep your tender perennials from frost heave, protect them with 2 – 2 ½ inches of mulch after your soil freezes. This will allow the soil to remain cold and protect your plants from sudden warm- ups and refreezes. It’ll also encourage deep root growth.
And you can protect your trees and shrubs from rabbit damage by placing plastic collars or hardware cloth around your trunks. You can also spray a rodent repellent on the lower portions of your trees and shrubs to keep rabbits and voles away.
