In the autumn flower garden or garden, the leading role is given to chrysanthemums (Greek chrysos - gold, anthemos - flower). Perennials dilute the November dullness not only bright colors, but can tint everything around with iridescent splashes. This continues until the flowers and leaves acquire a brown color, which acts as a marker for organizational measures for wintering the plant. It's time to prepare garden and perennial chrysanthemums for winter.
Is it possible to save a chrysanthemum bush in the winter in the ground
There are two ways to overwinter this perennial - digging and leaving in the ground with shelter. Gardeners use both methods. For fidelity, you can dig out part, and leave the rest in a permanent place.
Small-flowered multiflora, Korean, some Indian chrysanthemums successfully endure winter storms in open field. It is important to carry out the correct preparation for the cold in time. At the end of flowering, the bush is pruned to a height of 15-25 cm above the ground. If it has young basal shoots, it must be left untouched. The cut stems are mulched with a 3-5 cm layer of straw, coniferous needles, sawdust and hilled using humus (peat chips).
At the first night frosts, chrysanthemums should be covered with branches without leaves. This will create a kind of frame for the snow, which will warm the plant and saturate the earth with moisture during the spring thaw. If winters do not differ in snowiness, are accompanied by frequent thaws, rains, it is necessary to reduce the risk of wetting and rotting of the root system. To do this, low improvised shelters are created from boards (slate or tin), which are installed on brick supports.
How to make a shelter for chrysanthemums for the winter
Cut varieties, thermophilic and tall, require digging out of the ground and storage indoors. Do not tighten too much, because even slight frosts will harm the bush. Perennials ideally overwinter in a dry basement (cellar) with a temperature not higher than + 6-7 degrees and humidity within 75%.
In regions with a temperate and cool climate, some residents garden bed require some preparation for the cold. The article highlights the details of caring for such, at first glance, hardy perennial flowers as chrysanthemums in autumn period before the onset of winter.
What is included in autumn worries
Chrysanthemum care, which prepares plants for winter, begins in early autumn, or even at the end of summer. In order for delicate flowers to endure the cold well, certain work is required:
- Feed the plants in time, which will increase their resistance to freezing.
- Carry out sanitary cleaning of the bushes.
- Treat the plant if it needs it.
- Cut correctly.
- Organize shelter for the winter.
Plants need to be fed in early September. Phosphate and potassium fertilizers are used for this purpose. While it is warm, the chrysanthemum is able to gain the necessary supply of nutrients and then it will be much easier for it to survive the frosts. It is now impossible to make nitrogen complexes. They cause a strong growth of shoots, which is absolutely not necessary at this time.
Attention! Do not feed flowers much later than the specified period. The plant will not have time to feed well and will go into the winter weakened.
IN autumn care watering is necessarily included, since feeding will be successful only on wet ground.
How to protect chrysanthemum from diseases and pests
It is known that almost all pathogens that affect a flower perfectly tolerate even a very cold winter and are activated again in warm weather. Therefore, in the fall, it is imperative to carry out sanitary cleaning of the bushes, followed by their processing with special means.
Attention! Spraying flowers should be carried out on a warm, clear day, without wind.
For the prevention and control of fungal infections, the following drugs are suitable:
- Bordeaux liquid;
- copper-soap emulsion;
- colloidal sulfur.
Spraying is carried out after the plant is cleared of dry, diseased and damaged shoots. Moreover, not only bushes with clear signs diseases, but also completely healthy in appearance.
If we talk about pests, then all varieties can be damaged by aphids, meadow bugs, nematodes. Bushes affected by the latter will have to be dug up and destroyed. The soil and surrounding plants are treated with Phosphamide. Spraying is suitable for insect control soapy water or insecticides.
In general, if the care of chrysanthemums is carried out correctly, plants rarely get sick.
Shelter bush chrysanthemums
When growing the queen of autumn, it is advisable to follow the following rules:
- Planting plants should be at such a distance that the chrysanthemum receives enough air and light.
- When working with plants, garden tools should be disinfected.
- Each chrysanthemum should be inspected periodically. When diseases are detected, immediate action should be taken.
Further preparation for wintering
Before the arrival of stable frosts, even if flowering continues, the chrysanthemum needs to be pruned. The stems are cut 10-12 cm from the ground. Secateurs are used as a tool, which are disinfected with potassium permanganate, alcohol or other means before work and before moving from one bush to another. This prevents the transmission of pathogens.
Advice. Cut flowers can be brought into the room. Arranged in a vase with water, they will please the eye for a long time.
For wintering in the garden, you can leave chrysanthemums of local varieties, Korean and small-flowered. After pruning, care for these varieties is organized as follows:
- Spud with soil.
- Cover with a box.
- After the frosty weather settles, sprinkle with leaves, needles. The layer should be about 40 cm.
- Branches are laid out on top that will not allow foliage to scatter in windy weather.
- In cold regions, it is recommended to cover the top with roofing felt or film.
Attention! So that the chrysanthemum does not burn out, the polyethylene must be removed in the spring as early as possible.
How to deal with chrysanthemums that do not tolerate winter
Caring for chrysanthemums, which are thermophilic, includes digging and transferring to a warm place. These include most tall varieties with large flowers. Treat them like this:
- The bushes are cut, leaving the stems about 20 cm.
- Thoroughly clean from dried stems and leaves.
- Dig out of the soil with a sufficient clod of earth.
- Planted either in separate pots or in common boxes.
- Fill in the missing soil.
- Arrange for wintering in the basement or other room in which the temperature does not fall below + 5 ° C.
A chrysanthemum stored in this way requires little maintenance. It needs to be watered a couple of times a month and inspected.
Heat-loving chrysanthemums, which spent the summer in pots, are brought into the room along with the container. In the future, they are stored in the same way as dug out.
In the spring, around the end of April, the plants are exposed to light, fed and gradually accustomed to outdoor conditions. From the attached video, you can learn more about caring for chrysanthemums in the fall.
Preparing the plant in the fall is the key to its excellent development and flowering in the coming season. Only when proper care during this period, chrysanthemum bushes will annually decorate the garden with lush flowers.
Chrysanthemum care in autumn: video
The safety of your favorite plants will depend both on the climate of your region and on the efforts you put in during the winter. Chrysanthemums need care all year round, But Special attention they should be given in the fall. Already in early September, it is worth feeding. Best suited for these purposes. It is they who increase the frost-resistant qualities of chrysanthemums.
In order for your flowers to overwinter well, you need to carefully monitor so that they do not get sick. In the fall, inspect all your chrysanthemums and remove weakened plants so as not to interfere with healthy. Strong bushes are much more likely to survive the cold winter. Much depends on the variety of flowers. But even frost-resistant specimens need additional protection.
If your plant variety is frost-resistant, then it can be left to overwinter in open ground. But if your chrysanthemum is too sensitive to cold, then it is better to move it to a barn, cellar, loggia or balcony - rooms where it is much cooler than in the living room. It is in the fall that you will need to take care of pruning. When shortening the shoots, you need to leave about 10 centimeters so that your plant develops well in the future. This procedure should be started with the advent of cold weather. Usually it is October or November, depending on the specific region.
It is important to take into account all the details before you cover the chrysanthemums for the winter, which will help you with the video and photos in this article. If your flowers will survive the winter outdoors, you will need to hill them up. The soil must protect the plant from direct contact with the cold from all sides. It is undesirable for water to accumulate near the plants during the winter months - therefore, there should not be any holes nearby. Stagnant water can damage plants, lead to root rot and even death of chrysanthemums.
If your region is covered in snow in winter, you can be sure that your flowers will survive the winter without damage. Indeed, under a good layer of snow, most varieties, both chrysanthemums and other flowers, can easily survive even the strongest frosts. Worry should be if in your area during the winter months there are sufficiently low temperatures, which are accompanied by wind without snow.
However, not only cold winters without snow are the enemies of chrysanthemums, but also wet and too warm. Chrysanthemums can be severely damaged by both thaws and extreme temperature fluctuations. Such changes are fatal, because because of them the flowers can begin to sing. If your variety does not like severe frosts, and winter every year either with snow or without, then you need to cover the flower, taking into account changes in weather conditions. In such cases, you already need to think about improvised means.
To shelter the chrysanthemums, you will need bricks that are laid on the "edge" on both sides of the bush. Then, wide boards, old slate, or even an unnecessary piece of iron can be installed on top for additional protection and snow retention. You can close chrysanthemums and plywood, but so that it does not constantly fly off, press it down with something heavy.
What gives such protection? It does not allow moisture and precipitation to enter, and also creates a kind of ventilated space for flowers that grow on the street. Also, a chrysanthemum growing in the open field in the most severe frosts can be additionally covered with spruce branches. They will create the missing warmth and protect from the wind. If you have nowhere to take spruce branches, then you can use dry branches and leaves.
If you are too lazy to collect one or the other, you can purchase it in a store, which must be ventilated and not be too tight. It is not worth covering chrysanthemums with heavy material - they can start to rot and then die. And during the period of snowmelt or constant thaw, it is not recommended to cover the roots of chrysanthemum with sawdust or peat - then your flowers will be dampened.
If you want to grow chrysanthemums in very harsh winters, then digging up the bushes with the roots is the best solution. This must be done carefully and carefully so as not to damage the root system of the plant. Chrysanthemums will feel great in a barn, cellar, garage, being in a bucket or pot.
The main thing is that the room where you transfer the plants is at least a little warmer than the street and does not let the wind through.
But even in such benign conditions, you must definitely inspect your chrysanthemums so as not to miss the rot. If you find such a disease, then a fungicide solution will help save the flower. But it will only help if you apply it immediately after the first signs of the disease are detected.
If there is nowhere to transfer the flowers, then within the framework of your site you can prepare a trench. Its width can be about 75 centimeters, and the depth is about 50. Chrysanthemums are placed in such a trench along with the root of the plant, which must necessarily be with a clod of earth, and covered with a sheet of iron, wooden planks or slate. On top of this structure, you need to pour the earth - 10-15 centimeters will be enough. Under such a design, chrysanthemums can even start young shoots.
In regions that experience severe frosts in winter, flower lovers should make some effort to preserve chrysanthemums throughout the cold. Autumn chores of gardeners in such areas are not limited to pruning, they have to provide shelter for chrysanthemums for the winter, taking into account both the natural conditions on their site and the planned care throughout the growing season.
Preparatory work
Start preparing chrysanthemums for wintering in late August - early September. Feed them with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, they will increase their frost resistance. Remove dried branches, check the chrysanthemums for diseases, and if any are found, take the necessary treatment measures. It is known after all that only healthy plants tolerate wintering well. Spud the plants on all sides. Make sure that there are no holes around the bushes in which water can accumulate, which can cause the chrysanthemums to get wet. Immediately before shelter, cut the plants, leaving the stems no more than 10 cm high.
In areas where winters are not very frosty, it is enough to sprinkle the bushes with needles or shavings, and with the first snow, begin to cover them with a snow cover (throw snow). If the winters are severe, it is necessary to build a serious shelter
Shelter construction
If the onset of winter in your area is unpredictable, start building shelter gradually. First, on both sides of a bush or group of bushes, place bricks on which lay wide boards, sheets of iron or slate. If you plan to close the chrysanthemums with a light covering material, do not forget to press down with a brick or stone from above so that it is not blown away by gusty winds. Such shelter will provide plants good ventilation, prevent excessive moisture ingress to the bushes, create favorable conditions for wintering chrysanthemums in open ground.
As soon as real frosts come, additionally cover your flowers with spruce or fir spruce branches, straw or dry foliage. You can also use lutrasil or spunbond covering synthetic materials. Remember that the shelter was not too tight and heavy. And before severe cold weather, you should not cover the flowers in order to avoid their decay from high humidity and subsequent death. If there is no protection against moisture, in no case use peat or sawdust, because under these materials the plants will most likely get wet and damp. But in any case, do not rush to carefully cover the chrysanthemums, because. a light frost will do them good, it will harden them and prepare them for frost, they will become more enduring.
Another way to shelter chrysanthemums for the winter
If for some reason you cannot build a shelter over the chrysanthemums (for example, you planned to move the flower garden to another area or plant other crops in place of the flowers), use another method. To do this, in a free area of the garden, dig a trench about 0.5 meters deep and about 70 cm wide. Cut the chrysanthemums, leaving the stems no more than 10 cm high, and carefully dig each bush, keeping a clod of earth with roots (do not shake off the soil). Place the excavated plants in a trench, sprinkle with dry foliage or straw.
When sprinkling chrysanthemums with dry foliage, make sure that it is not collected under diseased plants, otherwise you will do the flowers a disservice by being able to protect them from frost, but not from pests and diseases that will appear in the spring
With the first frosts, cover the trench with sheets of slate or iron, or other material suitable for this case. On top of the shelter, pour a layer of earth 10-15 cm high.
This option of sheltering chrysanthemums for the winter is quite laborious, but this is not its only drawback. It happens that in such vaults chrysanthemums wake up at the end of winter, when the earth begins to warm up a little on sunny days. Plants produce young shoots, which, in the absence of light and real heat, stretch out and grow pale, thin and weakened. The whole trouble lies in the fact that you do not have the opportunity to check the condition of the chrysanthemums and at least somehow help them. The first method seems to be more favorable, since there is ventilation in the shelter, and the plants do not wake up ahead of time (although this also happens, since winters in middle lane Russia is mostly unpredictable).
If you built a shelter for chrysanthemums in the form of a trench, and the winter turned out to be warm, with frequent snow melting, take care of ventilation. To do this, simply drive sticks into the trenches over the snow, and then remove them. Let there be several such holes. Perhaps this will be enough to deliver fresh air to the plants.
When determining a place for planting chrysanthemums on garden plot choose the driest point where ground water lie deep. In this case, you do not have to build bulky shelters for flowers. It is enough to cut them off immediately after flowering, gently spud and sprinkle with dry foliage, cover with straw or coniferous spruce branches, and then gradually throw snow, each time slightly compacting it.
Any shelter - complex, with covering material or simple in the form of shavings, foliage and spruce branches after wintering must be removed in a timely manner. Chrysanthemums do not like waterlogging, they quickly rot (the plant withers, the stem and leaves become Brown color) and die. Therefore, with the onset of spring, they cannot be left under cover for a long time, they need fresh air. By the way, they are not afraid of spring cold, it even invigorates them ...
remember, that different varieties chrysanthemums tolerate winter differently. Some do not tolerate at all, they are only suitable for indoor breeding. Always ask sellers what variety of chrysanthemum you are purchasing. For example, it is believed that only varieties from the group Korean chrysanthemums. In fact, there are many winter-hardy varieties, among them: - "Dubok"; - "Valeroi"; - "Gold of Paris"; - "Chameleon"; - "Sun"; - "Ellen" and others.
By the way, you can try to grow winter-hardy varieties on one's own. They are obtained from early spring cuttings cut from the mother bush until mid-April. To do this, in the fall, when the chrysanthemum has faded, cut the bush, dig it out, trying not to damage the root system, and plant it in a prepared pot. Store the plant in a cool place (no higher than 5-7 degrees). A month before cuttings, around mid-March, move the pot to a warm place. After 7-10 days, young shoots from the roots will appear, at this time, intensify watering. After the appearance of 5-6 leaves on the stalk, you can use it as a cutting. Place cut cuttings in the refrigerator for 3-5 days (they will last longer), then plant in boxes and water daily. As soon as you notice that rooting has been successful (the growth of leaves becomes visible visually), reduce watering. Before landing in the ground (in central Russia this is the beginning of May), take out a box with young plants in the cold for hardening. Chrysanthemums grown in this way will not be afraid of frosty winters.
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Content
Chrysanthemums are beautiful and unpretentious flowers, but even such plants require certain conditions in order to survive the winter cold and frost. Preparation of chrysanthemums for wintering includes several milestones, observance of which will help maintain their beauty and health. All activities are carried out in the process of general preparation of the garden for winter and are not particularly difficult.
All work around chrysanthemums comes down to the same rules that are performed for other plants: feeding, pruning and watering, sheltering flowers. But at the same time, it is worth observing special rules and remembering a few important nuances, which will help keep the plants strong and healthy until spring. Preparation for winter should be competent and consistent.
Conditions for wintering chrysanthemums
Besides the fact that there are different types and colors of chrysanthemums, all of them can be divided into two more types: frost-resistant and those that do not tolerate low temperatures. Flower bushes that are not adapted to frost should be dug up and removed from the street for the winter. The best place to store plants until spring is a basement or cellar with a temperature of 6 to 12 degrees.
You need to dig up the bushes with a clod of earth, put them in boxes, pots or other containers that are suitable in size. Before this, some preparation is also needed: the stems of the flower are cut to a height of 10-15 cm so that the plant does not waste strength in the winter. After planting in the spring, the chrysanthemum will give young and beautiful shoots that will bloom over time and will delight everyone around.
Those chrysanthemums that will winter in the open field also need to be prepared for frost and cold. The activities of such preparation include: pruning the stems, feeding the plant and sheltering it for the winter.
Feeding and spraying
When the chrysanthemums have faded, you can fertilize the plants with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. This will restore the strength of the flower and strengthen it before the onset of cold weather. In the process of preparing chrysanthemums for winter, it is important not to skip the stage when you can still fertilize the plant. Deadline when it needs to be done, mid or late September. By that time, the plant should be pruned, and in October it will be time to cover it, then top dressing will not be relevant.
As for spraying, it must also be done no later than the beginning of September, or it can be done immediately after flowering. In this case, you need to carefully examine all the branches of the flower, remove the sick, and then use pesticides and spray chrysanthemums. This should be done in dry, warm weather, in a couple of days the preparations will be completely absorbed into the leaves and stems of the plant. After that, it will be possible to continue further preparation of the chrysanthemum for winter.
Pruning before winter
Even those chrysanthemums that remain in the ground for a cold period need pruning of the stems. Majority experienced flower growers stems are left no more than 15 cm, removing the remaining shoots with leaves and faded flowers so that pests do not remain in them.
When cutting chrysanthemums, you need to carefully examine the remaining stumps so that there are no diseased branches or affected by the fungus. Under the covering material, few problems will go away on their own or freeze, and in a warm winter they can grow and destroy the chrysanthemum completely.
How to properly cover a plant
Before covering the cut stems of chrysanthemums, one more stage of preparing the plant for cold weather is required: the bushes must be spudded. These works can be done in mid or late September, after pruning. The hill around the stems should be even, and next to it you need to level the surface of the soil and not leave holes in which water will then accumulate.
In temperate climates, where winter temperatures rarely drop below 15 degrees below zero, hilled chrysanthemums can be covered with fallen leaves or spruce branches. The layer of snow that will cover them from above will become reliable protection so you don't need to do anything else.
In a region with cold and harsh winters leaves will not be enough to prepare chrysanthemums for cold weather. It is better to use a special covering material or burlap. Agrospan is a material popular among gardeners, which allows you to prepare many plants and bushes in the garden for winter, it can also be used for chrysanthemums. At the same time, it is important to take into account that if a thaw occurs in winter or spring is early, the stems may begin to rot under the covering material. Therefore, in the process of shelter, it is also important not to overdo it.
A more reliable way to hide
There is another way to prepare chrysanthemums for severe frosts and cold weather - the construction of shelters. Such measures are required in regions with harsh winters, where even -25 degrees is not uncommon. These works can begin to be carried out in early - mid-October, because the first frosts can hit at the end of the month.
Shelter of chrysanthemums will consist of reliable building materials: bricks and slate. In fact, for plants you need to build small house, inside which, under a roof and a layer of snow, a mild temperature will remain. The sequence of actions consists of the following steps:
- Bricks are laid lengthwise next to growing chrysanthemums on both sides.
- A sheet of slate is laid on top of the "walls" of bricks. If there is no such building material, you can take wide board or OSB sheet.
- Just in case, the covering material should also be pressed down with a brick or several stones so that it is not blown away by a gust of wind.
- Toward the end of October or just before frost approaches, the structure should be additionally covered plastic wrap. Additional protection reliably protect plants from frost and strong winter winds.
Preparing chrysanthemums for winter is not particularly difficult, and after several years of practice and experience, all actions will be familiar and familiar. At the same time, you need to be prepared for the fact that in the spring the plant can prepare a surprise: some bushes will survive the cold simply, others will become weaker or die.
