Winter Preperation

With winter approaching it’s important to properly prepare your garden beds and lawn for these harsh climate conditions. I will make a two part section about winter preparation and maintenance. The first one will look at garden bed maintenance and plant preparation. Next week’s article will talk about lawn preparation and tool winterization. Being well prepared for winter can ensure the success for plant success.




It is important to deeply water all plants before the winter season. The reason for this is because during the winter the plants are unable to draw water from the frozen soil. Plants with a lack of water during the winter are more susceptible to winter injury. Starting in autumn begin to reduce the amount of water given to plants. This is so that the plant can properly prepare for winter and doesn’t produce new growth that can’t harden off for the winter. Once deciduous plants lose their leaves for the winter begin deeply watering your perennials, deciduous and coniferous plants before the ground freezes. This will make sure your plants have plenty of water throughout the winter.

Having your garden beds properly mulched will help protect your plants roots from the winter conditions. While snow insulates the ground, weather conditions can be very drastic. Having a layer of 2-4 inches of mulch will provide a good layer of insulation for the plant roots to help them from the changing temperatures during the winter months. Leaving fallen leaves in the garden beds is also another way to insulate your plants roots.



Late autumn is also a good time to cut back certain perennials. Some perennials, especially grasses, provide great winter interest. Others however become very weak and ugly looking. These should be cut back so in the spring so they can have a fresh start to growing and it also reduces the amount of spring garden preparation you must do.



Here’s a video showing some pruning techniques for perennials: Putting Perrenials To Bed

Tree problems can occur from sudden change of temperatures, usually at night when the temperature drops dramatically. Two common problems are called frost cracks and sun scaled. Frost cracks occur when there are substantial freezing and thawing tempuratures causing the water in the tree to expand and contract. A frost crack appears as a vertical crack in the bark and is usually found on thin barked trees. Sunscald is another form of winter injury that can cause cracks and splits. Sunscald occurs when cells in the living tissue underneath the bark thaw out on sunny days. This mainly happens on the south or west side of the tree. The cells rupture when they re-freeze when the temperature drops. When enough cells in a given area rupture noticeable damage will occur. Sunscald looks like discolored, sunken areas on the tree. This can lead to fungus or pest infections.




The tree on the left has a frost crack and the tree on the right has been affected by sun scald.

There are a couple ways to help prevent frost crack and sun scald. The most common one is to wrap the tree in white wrapping paper or white plastic wrap. Another method is to paint the tree with white paint but this method is mostly used in orchards since it will be aesthetically displeasing. These methods will help reflect and block the sun so the temperature within the tree doesn’t change as drastically. Wrapping with plastic also helps prevent against rodent and animal damage. They will be less likely to eat a plant that is wrapped because it makes it more difficult for them to access. You can also use a pest repellent spray if rodents are a common issue in your garden.

Hardscaping; A Variety of Materials

Hardscaping is a commonly used term in the landscape industry. It refers to the none living aspects of a landscape usually stone and wood structures. In this article I will be focusing on different materials to use when creating a hardscape plan.

There are many applications that stone products are used for. Retaining walls, walk ways and water features are commonly built from stone. This is because it is a long lasting product and provides defined areas and structures. The two most common types of stone products are referred to as precast or natural. Precast products are man made from a variety of materials including brick, natural stone and concrete and come in a large variety of shapes, styles and colors. Natural stone is stone that comes from a quarry and is used in the landscape. Depending on the type of stone and application it can either be saw cut or left the way it is from the quarry. Using different colors, textures and productes you can create a very beautiful and diverse landscape.

Precast products are commonly used for walk ways and retaining walls. There are many different shapes, styles, textures and colors that precast products can come in. Its a great product to work with since each stone is to a proper measurement making installing these products very simple. Some of the biggest precast stone distributors are: Permacon, Unilock, Hanson,and Oaks. They all provide a wide variety of stones that will surely meet the needs of your job. Depending on the stone yard in your area they will carry different companies. Below we will look at a variety of different pavers.


These are commonly used laying patterns for pavers. When purchasing a paver ask the manufacturer for a technical guide. This will allow you to see the different laying patterns that are possible for that paver.

These are a very basic rectangular paver. Its a very easy to lay since its consistent shape and creates very nice clean lines. There are many available laying patterns for this paver.

There are commonly three different shapes of pavers in this selection. It creates a very clean, random pattern. A very textured paver with visible joints provides a very elegant look.

These pavers mimics a natural flagstone look. A textured paver with changing lines that provide a mosaic effect. The benefit to using this paver over natural flagstone is that it will be more stable installation and will have less shifting and expanding of joints.





Natural stone can be used for walkways, retaining walls and fountains. There are many different types stone, each with its own characteristics, colors and textures. Natural stone is commonly more expensive then precast for both the materials and labour. Since the product is natural there is usually variations in the size of the material making it more time consuming to install. Below I will show examples of different natural stone products.


Armour stone makes great retaining walls, especially in larger applications. The stones are very heavy so they wont shift when retaining a large amount of area.
Natural stone steps are a nice addition to any landscape adding a lot of character.

Square cut flagstone add a very elegant and formal look to a landscape. Square cut flagstone is usually "wet laid" meaning its installed on top of mortar. This is to ensure it doesn't shift and the lines stay straight.


Random flagstone is a great way to define different spaces in the landscape. Its random lines breaks up the straight lines from pavers. Coming in a variety of colors makes it a great addition to any landscape. It can either be dry laid (installed on and aggregate base) or wet laid (installed on a mortar base).




Check with your local stone supplier for the company and products they carry. Look at using a combination of precast and natural stone products to create a unique and diverse hardscape!

Sinking of pavers is a common problem throught the landscape industry and can be very dangerous. Heres a video showing a basic lift and relay of interlocking pavers: