In my zone 3 garden, it is time to think about winter mulch. I have several zone 4 Lily and now a few zone 4 Coral Bells that came from Linda's Garden. The theory behind winter mulch is that you put it on in Fall and take it off in Spring. I have not been historically good at the taking it off in Spring part of that equation. Mostly because I have a huge list of other chores in Spring that bump removing mulch so far down the list, it never happens. Although my garden has never suffered any visible effects of this particular neglect, I often wonder when the Lily stalks will start to have trouble getting through all that year after year mulch and Coral Bells stalks are not as strong as Lily. So this year, I am trying a new strategy with the Coral Bells. I am going to drop full bags of mulch on top of them as late as possible. They will be easy to pick up first thing in Spring and I can use the mulch in the garden where I need it next season. Since the Coral Bells also reside in a raised bed, this method should ensure the mulch does not overflow the bed. I have no clue if it is going to work because I came up with the idea after reading an article about planting annuals in bagged soil that stays in the bag. I can think of no reason that it shouldn't work though and if it does, I have made that Spring chore so easy and fast it will never be bumped to the bottom of the list again!
Sounds like a great plan! At least you are still able to buy bags of mulch out your way at this time of year. We have so many leaves that fall and I collect them up and dump them on top of my tender plants. I lay a branch over top to keep them in place till spring.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that I've found confusing is whether to throw on extra mulch before or after the ground freezes. Seems to be different depending on the plant. More on that another time.