HOME (Indoor plants and activities)
Stop fertilizing houseplants. Rotate plants to maintain balanced plant growth.
If plants are dropping many leaves, move them closer to sunny exposures, such as west- and south-facing windows. Artificial lights may be needed to supplement particularly dark rooms.
Pot spring-flowering bulbs with tips exposed to force into bloom indoors. Moisten soil and refrigerate 10 to 13 weeks. Transfer to a cool, sunny location, and allow an additional three to four weeks for blooming.
Continue dark treatment for poinsettias by keeping them in complete darkness from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily until early December or until red bracts begin to show.
YARD (Lawns, woody ornamentals and fruits)
Prevent rabbit and rodent feeding damage to trees by erecting physical barriers, such as metal mesh (one-quarter-inch) hardware cloth. Pull mulch a few inches away from the trunk, as the mulch provides a warm winter home for rodents.
Tie rose branches together to prevent whipping by wind. Mound 12” of soil around the base and add 1 to 2’ of clean, weed-free straw over the mound of soil. A chicken wire fence around the rose should help hold the straw in place. Wait until several killing frosts have occurred so plants will be dormant when covered. Plants covered too early may be smothered.
Be sure evergreens are watered thoroughly before the ground freezes.
Multiple leader, upright evergreens, such as arborvitae and juniper, and multiple leader or clump trees, such as birch, are most subject to bending and breaking branches due to snow and ice damage. Relatively small trees can be wrapped or the leaders tied with strips of carpet, strong cloth or nylon stockings two-thirds of the way above the weak crotches. These wrappings must be removed in spring to prevent girdling, and to allow free movement of the stem. Proper pruning, to eliminate multiple leaders and weak branch attachments, will reduce snow and ice damage. For trees with large wide-spreading leaders or large multi-stemmed trees, the main branches should be cabled together by a professional arborist.
Prevent frost cracking (or sunscald) by wrapping tree trunks. Young and thin-barked trees are especially susceptible. On cold winter days, the sun can heat up bark to the point where cambial activity is stimulated. When the sun becomes blocked or goes down, bark temperature drops rapidly, killing the active tissue. Young trees, newly planted trees, and thin-barked trees (cherry, crabapple, honey locust, linden, maple, mountain ash, plum) are most susceptible to sun scald. Trees that have been pruned to raise the lower branches, or transplanted from a shady to a sunny location are also sensitive because the lower trunk is no longer shaded. Older trees are less subject to sun scald because the thicker bark can insulate dormant tissue from the sun's heat ensuring the tissue will remain dormant and cold hardy. Sun scald can be prevented by wrapping the trunk with a commercial tree wrap, plastic tree guards, or other light-colored material. The wrap will reflect the sun and keep the bark at a more constant temperature. Newly planted trees should be wrapped for at least two winters and thin-barked species up to five winters or more. Put the wrap on in the fall and be sure to remove it by early spring soon after the last frost.
GARDEN (Flowers, vegetables and small fruits)
Mulch newly planted perennials for winter protection.
Clean and winterize garden tools and lawn mowers.
Apply 3 to 5” straw mulch to strawberries to prevent winter injury or death to their crowns. Wait until temperatures have hit 20 F to be sure plants are dormant. If mulch is applied too soon, the plant's crown can rot.