Things to do to prepare your plantings for winter–

*  If you have a young tree, protect the trunk with a plastic sleeve or wire guard.  This will protect against deer rubbing their antlers on the trunks and shredding the bark.  
*  Plants that may be favored by deer should be wrapped with a deer net.  The most common are Yews, certain Viburnum, Oak Leaf Hydrangea, young Magnolia trees/shrubs, young Burning shrub, to name a few.
*  Anti-desiccant spray–this is a liquid spray applied to evergreens to help them preserve moisture and protect them from winter wind burn.  
*  Mulching–apply mulch at the base of first year roses and perennials.  Often, you can rake mulch from the surrounding area–new mulch is not necessarily needed.  This helps to moderate soil temperature fluctuations–especially when there is little/no snow on the ground.  
*  Repellent–we are fans of Bobbex.  This is an effective way at deterring deer, rabbits, and voles.  Reapply about every 6 weeks–take advantage of periods of “thaw” to do the reapplication.
*  Deep root fertilization–this can be done a number of ways.  We recommend applying Milorganite (also deters deer) around the base of plants in the fall (now), drenching the soil with compost tea, or having fertilizer and bio-stimulants injected into the soil.  All of these will boost soil microbe activity and in turn stimulate the root growth of the plant.
* And, finally–prune!  Usually first year plants in the landscape do not require pruning, but for all other plants–it is a great time to prune.  

Here are a few watering tips–

For evergreen trees and shrubs, you want to water them one per week until the ground freezes–that usually happens by December 15th.  How much?  Depends on size, of course.  Great rule of thumb is 10 gallons of water per 1 foot of height.  Either place the hose near the tree and let it run, moving it occasionally so all the roots are moistened or use buckets to slowly dump water around the perimeter of the tree/shrub.  

For deciduous plants (those that drop their leaves), you want to water them 2 more times this season.  Once now, and then again in about 10 days.  How much?  For trees, use the guideline of 10 gallons of water per 1″ diameter of trunk (at base), and for shrubs it is the same as evergreens of 10 gallons water per 1 foot of height.  Either place the hose near the tree and let it run, moving it occasionally so all the roots are moistened or use buckets to slowly dump water around the perimeter of the tree/shrub.  
Beautiful Blooms does offer all of these services (and perhaps you have already contracted us to provide them for you).  If you want pricing information or simply have questions, please contact us.  We are happy to assist in anyway we can.

Thanks for reading…
Now—go water those plants!  ??  
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