Burlap wrapping for winter

[Jerome]

Have been told 2 different ways for applying burlap to winterize our roses, boxwoods and seedling spruce trees from 2 different nurseries.

Option 1: Just wrap burlap so it gently touches the plants , that is dont choke it or leave more than an inch or so between plant and burlap. Wrap it two times around. Use 2 prong metal stakes , about 6 in long , u shape , to hold burlap.

Option 2: Place 3 wooden stakes about 6 inches away from plant in circular pattern and staple burlap to them. Wrap the burlap only 1 time around plant.

OK , whose right? are they both? is there a better approach? Sounds like alot of wooden stakes for option #2 and concern that we are going to damage the weed fabric under the mulch bed. Not sure if plants can breathe OK with option #1 as burlap will be in contact with good portion of plant although burlap is not a tight weave.

Thanks!

[Marley1372]

Neither of them are correct, theyre both quacks. Wrapping plants with burlap is a waste of time. Not only that, it gets most of its use by people who "only want evergreens in my yard" so they have something to look at during winter, then they cover them up with a bunch of ulgy brown burlap for 6 months. all you need to do is water your plants and then covering them is not necessary. For the roses, get a rose cone or just mulch heavily arround them.

[Theo]

no you don't

[Stephen M. Henning]

You wrote: "Do a google search in groups using "wrapping burlap around plants" and you'll get all the answers you are looking for. -Theo "

But your example is using:

wrapping burlap around plants

If you include the quotes that you included in your original post you get:

just yields this thread.

[Stephen M. Henning]

This puts a large mechanical load on the plants. It also will breed fungal damage by not allowing enough air circulation.

This is best since it does not mechanically load or suffocate the plants inside. The open top is important to prevent heat build up in the middle of winter. Wrapping can be overdone. If you have plants that are exposed to winter winds or winter sun and suffer, then this is called for. Otherwise it can be a waste of time. There is no problem doing it, just the fact it may not be necessary.

[mmarteen]

I asked for advice on this on the rose group and I was told (for rose bushes) not to use the cones that they let heat build up.

I also did some other reading, most helpfully in Month by month gardening in Minnesota book put out by the Minnesota Horticultural Society

The main problem seems to be to protect plants when they need protection and make sure that they get good air circulation when the temps rise. Here in Minnesota that is a real problem in these transitional months. Last week we had evening temps in the 30s and even one night below 30 and this week we have had a heat wave. (Today it was in the 80s). If I had coned or wrapped my roses last week, they would have been cooked. Instead, what I have decided to do is use an "incremental method" which involves watching the temps. when evening temps are between 25 and 30, I will just make sure that I have a lot of dirt and fresh compost piled up around the base of the rose bushes. at 20-25 or forcasts for high winds and cold weather, I will put up

1" mesh chickenwire cages (3' tall) around my rose bushes and my new hardy peony tree and start a layer of mulch. (I have a bunch of chickenwire already, for building protection cages for my bulbs!) I will keep adding the mulch inside each cage as the temps drop so that by the worst weather (usually in January) they should be fully protected. As the temps rise, I will attempt to do the same thing in reverse. Hopefully it will work.

mm