Fall Care Tasks That Will Help Your Evergreen Plants Thrive During Winter

Between planting spring-blooming bulbs and raking the leaves, your fall to-do list for the garden is probably pretty long, making it easy to overlook your evergreens. Although these plants always look pretty healthy in the winter when compared to others that have died back, they still need a bit of support to make it through the colder months. Doing care tasks now in the fall will help your evergreen plants thrive during winter. 

A really important fall task for your evergreens, especially if you live in a place that freezes, is to give them a deep watering. Your evergreens may experience excessive water loss through their leaves during winter, and if their roots are in frozen soil, it can be difficult for them to get the moisture they need. Give the ground a good soaking in the fall to help your evergreens get through winter. If your evergreens have suffered from winter desiccation injury in the past, which is when they lose too much water, you may want to consider applying an anti-desiccant spray to create a protective layer on their foliage. 

Alongside watering, it is helpful to mulch in the fall to promote strong, healthier plants. Mulching will protect the roots of your evergreen plants from the extreme freezing and thawing changes that occur over the winter months. Apply 2 to 4 inches of shredded bark, wood chips, or leaves to the base of your evergreen, making sure that there is a gap of at least 4 inches between the base and the mulch. For fragile and young evergreens, you may wish to create a barrier of burlap around them to protect them from intense winds. 

There are a fair few fall tasks that you can do to help your evergreens survive and thrive over the winter. However, there are certain things that you may think are beneficial for your evergreens but could actually cause harm. It is best to avoid pruning your evergreens in the fall. Doing so can promote new growth, which will not be tough enough to withstand the winter weather. Pruning after August can weaken the tree, so wait until the spring to do any tidying up. 

You should also avoid fertilizing your evergreens in the fall. Like pruning, fertilizing in the fall can make the plant put on new growth. The growth it puts on will not be developed enough to survive winter. Even quick-release fertilizers in late summer should be avoided for the health of your evergreen plants. Lastly, if you do decide to wrap your evergreens with burlap, ensure that you are not wrapping them too tightly. Doing so can trap moisture and collect ice, which may lead to infection.