When beautiful evergreen shrubs appear in the garden , the main problem for the grower is to keep the new “resident” healthy and flourishing. That is why so many people care about the question of how to cover rhododendrons for the winter. To choose the right care strategy for this plant, you need to find out its variety. In the description of a specific variety of rhododendron, the minimum temperature of its content will be indicated.
Protection for frost resistant varieties
Most experienced gardeners consider this plant rather gentle and thermophilic, but it is worth considering the achievements of modern selection. Many new varieties do not need to resolve the issue of how to cover rhododendrons. They can tolerate temperatures of minus 35-40 ° C. Moreover, this indicator is designed only for buds, the plant itself can easily tolerate colder winters. However, it must be remembered that evergreen shrubs and trees continue to evaporate existing moisture even in winter.
To prevent rhododendron from drying out due to the fact that the necessary water does not enter through the frozen soil, it must be provided with an adequate supply of liquid from the fall. To do this, the earth is well loosened, watered and mulched with ordinary pine paws. You can use oat straw, but this innovation is not suitable for all varieties of plants. After this, you need to continue sparse or moderate watering, until the earth around the bush freezes.
Next, the question is directly solved on how to cover rhododendrons for the winter. After the first frosts, the layer of pine paws is increased, the lower side processes and roots are necessarily covered with a thick layer of prepared acid peat, pine needles or high-quality compost. All further actions depend on which variety is grown on the site.
Shelter for thermophilic species
If a variety that does not tolerate cold grows in the front garden, additional measures will be required. How to cover rhododendrons for the winter to protect the most heat-loving species? Special frames made of kraft paper or horticultural covering materials (agrotex, spandbond, lutrasil and many others) will be needed. You will also need pine or spruce spruce branches and, in some cases, a dry oak leaf. All deciduous varieties are quite frost-resistant, so you just need to bend the branches to ground level and fix them under the snow.
Autumn-winter care for an amazing plant ends there and resumes in the spring. When the snow begins to melt, stagnation of moisture can occur at the roots. If this happens, how to shelter a rhododendron for the winter will no longer matter. The main question will be how to preserve the roots. So that this situation does not arise, you need to pre-fabricate a special groove located around each landing. Excess water accumulated after the snow melts will drain through such a drain.
Now everyone knows how to cover rhododendrons for the winter, you need to remember only a few rules for removing such protection. You need to release the plant carefully, on a cloudy day or in the evening. A slight shadow is left for a while to avoid sunburn on the leaves. If there is a lot of snow in winter, it would be better to create an additional breathable frame from the boards, which will protect the branches from excess weight and breakdowns.