What should I spray on my plants before I bring them in for the winter?
Spray with Insecticidal Soap: Before bringing your plants indoors, thoroughly spray their leaves, stems, and trunks with insecticidal soap to eliminate any remaining pests. Allow the spray to dry thoroughly before bringing the plants inside. Some experts recommend bathing or soaking plants in a bucket of water with mild dishwashing soap before bringing them inside. If your plants are too big for the bucket treatment, spray them with water to remove outdoor dust and soft-bodied insects from the leaves.Spray with Insecticidal Soap: Before bringing your plants indoors, thoroughly spray their leaves, stems, and trunks with insecticidal soap to eliminate any remaining pests. Allow the spray to dry thoroughly before bringing the plants inside.
How to keep plants protected in winter?
Protecting Plant Roots Provide plant roots with a warm winter blanket of mulch. A two- to four-inch mulch layer around trees, shrubs and perennial beds helps reduce moisture loss and moderates soil temperatures during the winter months. Mulch also reduces problems with heaving soils. Add mulch Many tender plants will benefit from mulch over their roots for added protection in winter. Mulch could be garden compost, wood chippings or leaf mould. As an added bonus, it will provide soil nutrients as it slowly rots and will also help to retain water, so reduces watering next year.Remember to mulch the soil. Mulching protects the roots of plants and helps reduce heat loss, thus minimizing temperature fluctuations. As with shrubs and trees, protecting the roots is necessary for them to survive the cold and come back in the spring.Go mad for mulch Mulch shields the soil from compaction and excess leaching and protects it from desiccating winter wind. This also creates a more hospitable environment for the soil biota, which are necessary for a healthy soil that makes nutrients available to plant roots.