How to prepare and properly cover a chrysanthemum for the winter?

Chrysanthemum is deservedly considered the queen of autumn. Its flowering begins at the moment when other varieties of horticultural crops are at the end of flowering or are already in dormant mode. Novice flower growers are often interested in how to preserve chrysanthemums in winter without digging them up. People who have experience caring for these flowers believe that it does not always make sense to dig chrysanthemums out of the ground. Some varieties can be provided with the necessary shelter and left to overwinter in the garden.

Preparing plants for wintering

Preparing plants for wintering begins differently in each region. In the Moscow region, such work begins at the end of August. In the southern regions, they begin to worry about covering heat-loving plants in early or mid-autumn. At this time, gardeners cut the stems, add fertilizer to the soil and begin winter shelter.

Fact! Some varieties of chrysanthemums must be dug up for the winter and stored in the basement or other cool place, while others can be left in the ground for the entire cold period.

At the end of the summer season, fertilizer should be applied to the bush. The recommended composition of the fertilizer is complex, containing a higher amount of phosphorus and a lower concentration of potassium. Such an agronomic operation will provide the plant’s root system with adequate nutrition and increase its cold resistance.

Autumn pruning

All plants (overwintering in the ground and dug up) are subject to autumn pruning. The procedure begins after a seasonal drop in temperature. You should not be too zealous and cut off the shoots at the root. Stems of at least 10 cm in length should remain above the soil surface .

Flower growers are not unanimous in their opinion whether it is necessary to dig up all chrysanthemums for the winter. Some believe that all plants should be dug up due to the fact that they can suffer from both frost and prolonged thaw. Others prefer to rely on the climatic conditions of the region in which the plants are grown.

When to cover?

Experienced flower growers say that this should be done immediately after the first frost, when the air temperature outside is steadily below zero. It is not worth covering before, since chrysanthemums are more afraid of getting wet than freezing. Therefore, if you create a shelter for flowers in the fall, and then it rains, they will simply die.

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What varieties should you dig?

“Multiflora” chrysanthemums, large-flowered and branched varieties must be removed from the soil. It has been noted that plants with large inflorescences do not tolerate wintering well in the ground. They are removed from the ground after the onset of cold weather and sent for storage in a dry basement.

Indian varieties especially need a gentle wintering:

Golden Orpheus;
Helen, etc.

Similar plants can be transplanted into greenhouses, insulated loggias or greenhouses.

Healthy!

In those regions where there is a short season with positive temperatures, it is recommended to grow chrysanthemums for cutting in heated greenhouses. If chrysanthemums are grown for decorative purposes, you should pay attention to Korean varieties with small inflorescences.

Popular varieties of small-flowered chrysanthemums are:

Oak;
Red Moscow;
Purple Haze;
Everest;
Korean;
Malchish-Kibalchish;
Chamomile, etc.

In all regions with a warm climate, they can be left in the ground for the winter, having previously taken care of the shelter without the risk of freezing.

Preparatory activities

Each variety has its own way of preparing for winter. Almost all species require additional care before wintering. Preparing chrysanthemums for winter includes the following activities:

Inspecting the plant for diseases. It is better to remove weakened bushes, as they have little chance of survival.
Removing old, dry leaves and stems so that they do not interfere with healthy shoots.
Circumcision. Usually leave 5 to 15 cm of plant height above the ground so as not to damage its further growth. Short young shoots are best left untouched. At the same time, not only flowers that winter in the garden are pruned, but also those that are moved indoors.
Cleaning the area adjacent to the flower garden: removing construction and other debris.
Treatment with special preparations. Most insects and bacteria overwinter together with garden crops, and with the arrival of spring they begin to actively reproduce, affecting more and more new shoots. Therefore, it is important to carry out preventive treatment with correctly selected products. Moreover, you need to spray not only the affected plants, but also healthy bushes, as well as the ground around them.
Fertilizing the soil with compounds based on potassium or phosphorus. Such concentrates increase the frost-resistant qualities of plants, increase their vitality and maintain a healthy appearance. One of the popular ones is “Autumn” fertilizer, without nitrogen compounds. The powder is scattered at the rate of 30-50 g for each meter of planting. Granular fertilizer is suitable for rainy weather. The liquid solution is convenient to use during drought. The best time for this procedure is early September.
Watering and loosening the soil. If autumn is dry, then the soil is additionally moistened. Plants can freeze due to lack of moisture. Up to 5 liters of water are poured under each bush, which the root system will absorb during the winter. You should know that some species are adapted to drought, so you should not overdo it with moisture. Make sure that the layer of earth near the bushes should be smooth - without drops or holes.

The signal to trim the stems is the brown color of the stems and leaves, which appears after the first frost.

Caring for dwarf varieties

Compared to traditional varieties of chrysanthemums, their dwarf varieties were bred recently. Their mission is to decorate balconies, loggias, mixborders and even apartments. Residents of the southern regions are not too concerned about covering the spherical varieties of these plants for the winter. It is enough to cover them with spruce branches - and the shelter is ready.

In harsh climates, such chrysanthemums must be dug up . Rhizomes should be removed from the soil after the above-ground part has dried. After lightly clearing the soil, the roots of the chrysanthemums are laid out in the shade to dry. After removing dead fragments, the roots are placed in containers with sawdust or straw and sent to a dry basement.

Some gardeners do things differently. Immediately after removing the plant from the soil, cut off the shoots, first leaving 10 cm of the stem, and place the rhizome in a flower pot with peat. A drainage layer of foam fragments is placed on the bottom of the container. It is recommended to moisten the roots and treat the stems with an insecticide. This measure will allow you to protect the plant from aphids and other pests in the next season. This is how chrysanthemums are stored in the basement in winter until spring.

In most cases, dwarf chrysanthemums are grown indoors. But the southern regions allow them to be planted in flower beds and not taken out for the winter. When keeping dwarf plants indoors, the above-ground part is cut off in the fall, the length of the remaining shoots is only 10 cm. The container is transferred to a dry room with an ambient temperature of +8 °C. Plants should be moistened no more than once a month. Don't forget to sign the variety name on the containers.

Shelter organization

Plants should be covered in stages. Initially, pruning is performed, and then hilling is done. When hilling, you should avoid the presence of holes and grooves in which excess moisture may subsequently accumulate.

Flower growers should hill the bushes in the ground so that they are completely covered. In harsh climatic conditions, it is additionally recommended to cover the chrysanthemum bushes with spruce branches or sawdust. But it’s worth starting the second protective layer after frosty weather has established itself.

Bricks, sheets of slate or other available material are used as shelter for wintering plant bushes. Protective walls are laid out of bricks around the rhizome and covered with a sheet of slate on top. Shelters are constructed from special agrotechnical or improvised material. Breathable agronomic material lutrasil or spandbond can be used as a roof. This design will provide ventilation and protection from heavy rainfall.

You almost always need to cover chrysanthemums for the winter, but not too warmly. A big mistake gardeners make is an excessively large layer of cover, under which the plant damps out. Those who do not want to risk rare varieties separate a small fragment of the root from the mother plant and store it in the basement. The main plant is covered and left to overwinter in the ground.

The simplified sheltering procedure is as follows:

The ground part of the chrysanthemum is cut off, leaving shoots of 15-20 cm.
The bush is covered with soil or peat.
A layer of foliage and spruce branches is laid.

In addition to the mulching method, you can preserve chrysanthemums in winter without digging them up using another method - planting in a trench. To implement this wintering method, it is necessary to build a depression up to 50 cm high. The depression is created on a hill, and its bottom is insulated with pine needles or spruce branches. The roots of the chrysanthemums are placed tightly together and lightly sprinkled with peat. Then the plants are covered in layers with polyethylene, boards and slate sheets.

Not everyone has the opportunity to keep plants in a dark room. Flower growers, deprived of utility rooms, have to leave them outside. To winterize chrysanthemums in the open ground without problems, you need to listen to the practical advice of experts.

What to do for safety

There is no need to rush into additional cover for chrysanthemums; you should rely on the weather forecast. Warming too early can lead to damping off of flowering crops.

Mulching

The easiest way to cover plants for the winter is mulching. Tree bark and sawdust, hay and straw, fallen leaves and spruce branches, pieces of thick cardboard and remnants of covering material are used as mulch. The mulch layer should be 12–17 cm high.

This wintering method is suitable for the southern regions. If winter in the Moscow region and other central regions is warm and snowy, chrysanthemum bushes do not need additional insulation.

Underground storage

The method, known among gardeners as “underground storage,” is used during cold and snowy winters. After flowering, only peduncles and dried stems are cut off, the remaining branches are collected in a bunch. A bundle tied with twine is carefully bent to the ground, sprinkled with dry sand and fallen leaves, and insulated on top with any non-woven covering material. To cover flowering crops, you can use burlap, agrofibre, geofabric, white polypropylene bags or lutrasil.

Creating a dome

The most effective method of protecting chrysanthemums from frost is a dome or tunnel structure. The branches of an ornamental shrub are tied into a bundle and bent to the ground, a layer of fallen leaves, peat, sawdust and sand is poured on top or covered with pine branches. A structure in the form of a dome or an elongated tunnel is placed on top of the covered plants and fixed on the sides with wooden beams, stones or bricks.

The dome and tunnel for storing flowering crops is a frame structure made of curved metal slats and a covering material stretched on top. Storage under a dome/tunnel is often used by gardeners in Siberia and the Urals.