Want to move your Christmas tree outside eventually? Need a last minute gift for the gardener in your life? Garden Plot’s Mike McGrath’s got you covered.
Really Live Christmas tree? Get it Outside!
Tick, tick, tick! If you have a truly live (balled and burlaped) Christmas tree that you’re planning to put in the ground as a permanent part of your landscape, don’t delay getting it out of the house.
The secret to getting a live tree to survive its first winter outside is to keep it indoors for as short a time as possible in the coolest location possible, and then to ‘harden it off’ by moving it outdoors gradually. (Say, first to an unheated garage and then to its final resting place — eh, planting spot; I meant PLANTING spot!)
I repeat: Don’t keep the tree in the house a day more than you need to; let it begin to go naturally dormant in a protected area outside as soon as possible, and pour some water on the root ball every day.)
Then don’t delay the actual planting too long. Be sure that the planting spot drains exceptionally well, gets full sun and isn’t too close to the house or other structures. (People are often prepared for the final height, but not for the width of the ‘skirt’ that develops over time; the sides of these trees grow very wide).
Remove and discard the burlap, cage, wire and any other wrappings and then plant the tree high in the ground, not low. (“Dig a wide hole, not a deep one.”) You want to see the root flare above ground; the planted tree should not look like a lollipop!
Refill the hole with the same garden soil you removed to make the hole. Do not ‘improve the soil in the hole’ with peat moss, compost or anything else.
If you must add mulch, do not make it any deeper than two inches and do NOT let any mulch actually touch the tree. (Compost is the best mulch; dyed ‘bark’ the worst.)
Water after planting by letting a hose drip at the base of the tree for several hours. Continue to water during dry times afterward, including winter, spring and especially this coming summer.
(And speaking of water — keep the reservoir underneath your cut Christmas trees nice and full, because if that water holder dries out completely, you’ll need to start wearing chain-mail socks!)
The Christmas Rose; a festive plant that deer don’t eat
I’m seeing some nice ‘Christmas Rose’ or Helloborus niger plants in full flower for sale at garden centers and supermarkets. Which begs the questions: “Should these perennials be planted outside right after the holidays? If not, what’s the best way to keep them healthy inside until spring?”
Like the ‘Lenten Rose’, the ‘Christmas Rose’ is not a rose but a hellebore — cold-hardy, shade-tolerant perennials that deer and Evil Squirrels don’t bother because they’re toxic. As their common names suggest, hellebores are among the first plants to flower in the garden, often blooming in winter — at least after they’ve become well-established.
‘Forced’ plants like these (and other holiday plants in bloom) should stay indoors in bright light until spring. Don’t feed them while they’re inside, and only water them very lightly.
The only thing that can kill a hellebore is overwatering. So be sure to remove any holiday wrappings before you water. When the soil is saturated after a watering, you can replace the wrappings after an hour or so in the dish rack if you must, but ditch that plant-killing decorative foil as soon as the holidays are over.
Okay, so it isn’t a rose and it doesn’t bloom in December …
Looking for a last-minute gift for a gardener? Perhaps for a gardener blessed with abundant shade and frequent visits from those ravenous white-tailed stomachs-on-legs that we gardeners DON’T hold ‘dear’?
Then consider picking up a few Christmas Rose plants — so named because early botanists confused the first hellebores they saw with wild roses and noted that this Holiday-named species would often bloom at “Christmas”. (At least the pre-Gregorian calendar Christmas that fell on Jan.7.)
Hellebores perennialize well in the garden and aren’t bothered by any kind of woesome wildlife thanks to their inherent toxicity. (Note: Even handling the plants without gloves can cause a rash, so be careful.)
Keep these plants inside until spring, then plant them outdoors in dappled shade in a spot that drains well.
That last part is important; the only thing that can kill a hellebore is ‘wet feet.’
‘On-Sale’ amaryllis bloom just as bright!
Lots of Christmas closeout sales this weekend, and one thing I always look for in the discount rack is/are boxed amaryllis in their ‘kit’ form; you know, a colorful box that contains a big bulb, a little pot and enough soil-free mix to cover about half the bulb. Buy as many boxes as you like, take them home and examine them. If the bulbs haven’t yet sprouted — or the sprouts are very small — store them ‘as is’ (in their box, unpotted) in a cool, dark spot. Then bring them out and pot them up as directed in March. You should get a nice run of flowers about six weeks later.
Why are we waiting so long? Because in May you can move these tropical beauties outside right after the flowers fade; no more subjecting the poor plant’s sun-hungry leaves to the very un-merry months and dim windows of January and February. Amaryllis that go out in May and are well-cared for afterward will always have a good-to-great chance of rebloom.
But if that boxed bulb has already sent up a sizable stalk, plant it as directed, water it well, give it good light and enjoy the flowers in February — when we NEED a little color! (And when you can claim you did it deliberately for Valentine’s Day!)
Feed the birds and the birds will pay you back!
The list of birds that spend winter right here in our area is long, but my favorites are woodpeckers, wrens, the chickadee, titmouse and nuthatch. These mostly meat-eating birds are among nature’s greatest natural pest controllers, with insects making up 90 percent or more of their diet, especially in the spring when they’re raising their young (and when overwintering pest insects are just waking up).
To tap into this great natural resource, put up a bunch of suet feeders right now; the high-energy suet cakes directly attract the birds that are best at eating insect pests to your landscape. Replenish the suet all winter, but stop feeding when the weather starts to warm. The birds will naturally migrate from the suet you’ve provided to the insect pests that would have threatened your plants!
For the best results, you must stop feeding — suet AND seed — in warm weather. There’s abundant natural bird food at that time of year. And what your birds really need in hot weather is a reliable source of fresh, clean water — especially in the summer, when creeks and streams often dry up.
Mike McGrath was Editor-in-Chief of ORGANIC GARDENING magazine from 1990 through 1997. He has been the host of the nationally syndicated Public Radio show “You Bet Your Garden” since 1998 and Garden Editor for WTOP since 1999. Send him your garden or pest control questions at MikeMcG@PTD.net.
