As we enter our cold weather months, there are some perennials in our fruit and vegetable gardens that are better able to survive the winter with a nice warm blanket — or mulch. The more I garden, the more I recognize the benefits of different types of, and reasons for mulching.
For many perennials, winter mulching generally means adding some sort of straw or mounding with dirt to protect them from the extremes of our winters.
The preferred types of mulch can vary for different types of plants. Most winter mulching should be left until the upper couple of inches of soil are frozen to avoid problems with rodent damage, but....
My first lesson on mulching came with grape vines. I planted two varieties that were hardy only to Zone 4 (much of northern Minnesota is Zone 3). Following the advice of one local nursery, we put on a large quantity of straw. An extended family of mice found the straw to be a nice wintering area, with the bonus of having grapevine to feed on. In the spring, our grapevines had been nibbled to ground level. Fortunately, the roots were able to make up for my poor foresight, and managed to come back — but we lost one year’s growth. The next winter we simply laid the vines onto the ground and mounded them with black dirt. There was some effort to uncover the vines in the spring, but I anticipate the work will be worth it for these varieties.
A third variety that we planted was the Valiant grape, which was developed by the University of Minnesota. The Valiant is hardy to our area and does not need winter mulch in zone 3. In hind sight, planting just the hardier vines might have been a better option.
With strawberries, I had another quick learning experience. Their first year they put on some good growth, but I did not mulch them in the fall. In the spring, they started to come up, and then we had a very hard freeze. All but a few of the hardiest froze out. This winter I will be covering my strawberry plants with the recommended four inches of straw. A good cover of snow works just as well as an insulation barrier, but that is not always reliable.
Winter protection for strawberries is fairly essential, as the crowns of the strawberries can be killed at about 15 degrees. In the fall, it is best to “harden” the strawberries first, by having them go through two or three frosts. Good cover for strawberries is generally considered to be four to six inches of straw. The straw should be as free of seeds as possible.
For better strawberry production in the following spring, remove all but about one inch of the straw. This will help preserve soil moisture, control weeds, and help keep the strawberries clean. If next summer is anything like this past one, preserving soil moisture will be a real plus.
There is much more information on growing fruits, vegetables and flowers at http://www.extension.umn.edu/gardeninfo/> which is the put on by the University of Minnesota Extension office. For help with gardening questions, call 444-7916, leaving your name, number, and question. A local master gardener will call to assist you.
