Shelter technology with spruce branches
Before winter, roses are covered gradually, in several stages. The trimming procedure is required regardless of whether you are using spruce branches or synthetic nonwoven fabric. With a sharp pruner, the shoots of roses are cut to a height of 40-50 cm, no more. Then all the leaves are removed, covered with earth after the first frost and sprinkled with peat. When the air temperature drops below zero (-6-7 ° C), rose bushes are covered with pine spruce branches and dry leaves on top.
The use of spruce or pine twigs is allowed even for sheltering climbing roses. For this, the shoots do not need to be removed from the support, they are simply wrapped in branches, securing the latter with the help of soft ropes.
Tips for the use of covering material
Convenient way of planting plants in holes pre-marked on the canvas
Step 1. Before using lutrasil, it is recommended to moisten the soil a little, but not too much, so that the material retains moisture in the soil. You can fix the shelter with stones, boards or other cargo, as well as use special arcs. They are bent and pinned to the surface of the soil - it will not tear further than a puncture.
Lightly dampened soil
Step 2. During the first watering, moisture rolls down and does not immediately penetrate into the soil, therefore, for the first time, it is recommended to make the pressure small - so that the water jet dissipates. After the second and all subsequent waterings, the process will go faster. The material usually has a fleecy and smooth side. When using it, they put it with the fleecy side down - it will retain moisture and create a favorable microclimate for planting.
Installed fabric with slots and fluffy side up
Step 3. Before covering bushes or young trees with lutrasil, it is recommended to clean them of old leaves, since harmful insects, fungal spores or pathogenic microorganisms can hide in them. Agrotextiles are allowed to be washed in a washing machine, but do not forget that after such a procedure it becomes thinner, and in some places it can break through. Accordingly, after washing it is better to use it by folding it in several layers.
Lutrasil after washing
Step 4. When sheltering bushes or young fruit trees, it should be borne in mind that the larger the insulated area, the more heat the land will give to the plantings, due to which the plants will better tolerate low temperatures. Before mulching the land with lutrasil, experienced gardeners recommend digging up the ground several times so that there are no seeds or roots of weeds left in it. If the weeds manage to germinate under cover, it will be extremely difficult to extract them.
Anchored lutrasil, with the first sapling
Lutrasil is a high-quality covering material that has many advantages over film and other materials at hand. It is popular with gardeners, and if used correctly, it will reliably protect plantings from negative factors for several seasons in a row.
How to mulch plants?
Here are the main materials used for this:
- sawdust;
- needles;
- sackcloth;
- brushwood;
- straw;
- Construction Materials;
- spruce branches;
- peat.
Check out the advantages and disadvantages of these plant shelters.
Sackcloth
Insulation for plants has been made from it since ancient times. With this material:
- tying tree trunks;
- cover roses, hydrangeas;
- shade conifers so that they do not get sunburn.
These are the disadvantages of this material - burlap allows moisture. If it gets wet and freezes, it will become an ice carapace for plants. Under the burlap, ventilation is not very good and the crops covered with it can vomit, rot, and mold.Therefore, such a shelter is justified in a region where there is dry snow and there are no winter thaws.
Sawdust
Sawdust is an excellent thermal insulation material. But it is better not to cover the whole plant with them, but only the near-stem circle, covering the above-ground part. Some put sawdust in bags and thus insulate crops. You can use only natural sawdust from wood, and not various secondary processing products, such as chipboard.
It is necessary to mulch the plants only with dry sawdust, as wet preyut. If the shelter is not dry, moisture gets under the crops, then the sawdust should be positioned so that they do not touch the plant trunks. It is better to use large sawdust, they do not absorb moisture as much as small ones.
Sawdust acidifies the soil, so it is better to mulch the soil with them under crops that prefer acidic soil. For example, covering the hydrangea for the winter with such material will be justified. She prefers just such lands.
Under the sawdust, the soil will thaw longer in spring. Therefore, if it is necessary for the plant to wake up in time after winter, it is better to remove them in the spring.
Peat
One of the most successful materials that will allow you to insulate plants for the winter, covering them as if with a feather bed. After all, peat is light and warm under it. Even if it gets wet, it does not retain moisture for a long time. But like sawdust, peat makes the soil more acidic. Therefore, for crops that like neutral or alkaline, you need to add a little ash or lime, dolomite flour, chalk.
Construction Materials
Some people use these wooden boxes as a winter material. But first you need to mulch the plant, and put such a box on top. To prevent water from penetrating, the container is covered with foil. But it is necessary to create ventilation systems. Other building materials are also used:
- slate;
- trimming boards;
- roofing material.
A frame is built from boards or boxes, but it only traps the snow, and in order to insulate crops, you need to put burlap or non-woven material on this base. A kind of roof is built from slate or roofing material, not forgetting to make ventilation.
Lapnik
Plants are also covered with it. Plus, it protects them from mice. But it is better not to cover in this way crops that like alkaline soils. The crumbling needles will make the soil in this place more acidic.
It is important to properly harvest spruce branches so as not to break the law. It can be cut, for example, from a fallen tree, but from a growing tree, you cannot.
It is better to photograph this object so that you can prove where the spruce branches came from. The same applies to planned felling of trees.
Foliage
Dry foliage is a good material for insulating roots and lower parts of plants. But if the tree is affected by fungal diseases, such foliage is not suitable. In the spring, it is difficult to remove foliage from under the plants, so it is better to put it in nets for vegetables, to insulate crops in this way, making at the same time a small art object.
You can make a shelter for plants by taking:
- stakes;
- twine;
- dry leaves;
- mesh;
- roofing material.
Stakes are placed around the plant. Foliage bags are applied to them. Roofing material is placed on top to protect the pet from precipitation. Then it will be well ventilated and the plant will not get wet.
Straw
If you can get some straw, take advantage of this. This material is well suited for warming plants and sheltering beds for the winter. In order to thaw the soil here in time in spring, you need to remove this shelter early enough. You can make a kind of a wigwam, a hut, a statue, a scarecrow out of straw, so that the shelter of plants for the winter is elegant. But strengthen such an art object well so as not to be blown away by the winds.
Now you can reliably protect the plants in the country, and the shelters will look unusual and picturesque! In the video below 5 myths about sheltering plants for the winter:
Shading grid
Shading mesh can also be considered a covering material. It is made from polypropylene with the addition of an ultraviolet stabilizer.Often in stores, there is a green option, but there is also a neutral white. The nets of the required size are made to order, the standard width is 4 m. The material is used to protect agricultural plants from the scorching sun: greenhouses, grapes, young fruit trees are covered. Used to collect fruits by spreading under trees
When choosing a material, the main criterion is your expectations and the effect of the application. If you need protection against return frost, then a white spunbond or film will do. Black materials are suitable for mulching. Of course, it all depends on the financial side of the issue. But if you are engaged in the cultivation of crops on an ongoing basis, then it is worth investing once than spending money and time every year on the purchase and installation of a shelter.
How to choose material for beds and greenhouses
When buying film or non-woven coatings, two main criteria are taken into account - the operating scenario and the service life. Both factors ultimately affect the cost and success of the application. The covering material may differ in type and density, therefore it is selected for the purpose of use:
- for beds - when there is no supporting frame;
- small greenhouses;
- stationary greenhouses;
- protection of the underground part of plants from weeds, overheating, pests.
The quality and durability of all types of coatings are assessed by two indicators:
- Uniformity of the web in terms of density. The uneven texture and thickness of the layer can often be seen in low-quality covering agrofibre. The criterion is important for all covering materials, since the mechanical strength, the degree of protection from wind and cold during frost depends on it.
- UV resistant. To protect against the destructive effect of the sun's color, ultraviolet stabilizers are introduced into the polymer raw materials. In their absence, the covering material becomes fragile, brittle, crumbles in the garden in a month or two.