Many of us decorate with garland, porch pots, wreaths and trees. Once the holiday season has passed, The Growing Place offers these ideas on how to use live evergreen boughs in the garden.
Protect plants
- Place branches over shallow rooted plants such as mums, coral bells, strawberries and spring bulbs to insulate their roots through freezing and thawing.
- Acid loving plants such as rhododendron and holly appreciate a layer of evergreens as the needles add a slight acid boost. When picking them up in the spring, give boughs a shake to let the needles fall and mix in to your mulch.
- Mulch Endless Summer and other varieties of Hydrangea macrophylla. The boughs will add another layer of protection over their flower buds for next year.
- Tender roses such as hybrid teas, grandifloras and floribundas do well with a layer of compost, then leaves or straw and a final layer of evergreen boughs. Mulch them once we receive a couple of hard freezes, usually in December. (more…)
