Right Before Winter . . .

Getting a three-acre formal garden ready for winter requires a professional.

   Karl Thompson, a landscape architect, has been the chief gardener at Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia, NY, for six years. His first concern is preparing 100,000 square feet of lawn for the next spring. In September, when the thermometer seems to hover around 70 degrees and the ground is moist and no rain is forecast for several days, he aerates the grass which alleviates compaction and allows air to get to the roots. Then he applies weed killer and seed with a drop spreader, which will encourage new grass growth and discourage broad-leaf weeds. It’s important, he says, “to let a garden go to sleep with wet feet.â€�

   He makes sure that the gardens receive at least an inch of moisture from rain or the irrigation system every week.

   Thompson also has to prepare the plantings for winter, which is especially harsh on the hillsides of Wethersfield. Rhododendrons are sprayed with Wilt Pruf to protect them from burning by winter winds. The delicate boxwoods are framed and wrapped with burlap. Tea roses are cut back after a few hard frosts, and covered with mulch and pine boughs and encircled with a burlap-covered snow fence.  

   The white cedar is trimmed late so the snow falls off more easily.

   In Wethersfield’s flower beds, the plants are cut down, all weeds pulled up, and the soil is covered with three inches of pulverized maple leaves. The worms aerate the living soil. All of this mulch can attract mice; so poisoned bait is placed strategically to keep the population down with the help of the garden cat.

   Millerton Nursery can help you get your garden ready if you need help trimming plants, spraying them with natural deer discourager, putting deer fences around vulnerable trees and mulching garden beds to hold in the heat and protect plants from the cold.  

   Petrina Lopane will also arrange for autumn tree planting of maples, crab apples and cherry trees up until the ground freezes. Looking at the maple trees already turning color, she said it looks like it will be an early winter with a lot of snow.

   Peter Muroski, owner of Native Landscapes Garden Center in Pawling, takes another stance.  He advocates doing less.

   “Leave the leaves on the ground. It’s healthier for the garden. Watch what Mother Nature does.â€�  Mound clippings into a huge compost pile to create a winter home for animals; leave sunflower heads to dry and provide food for birds. Late fall when the ground is moist is also a good time to rip out invasive aliens like bittersweet which suffocate plants.

   Twin Brooks Garden Center in Millbrook suggests leaving the hydrangea blossoms on all winter long to provide a dramatic impact in the snow. But tropical plants like canas must be moved inside in front of a very sunny window, or cut back and stuck in the basement, coming out only when danger of frost is past.