Do I need to dig up Korean chrysanthemums for the winter. Chrysanthemums in the autumn garden

There is a widespread belief that the chrysanthemum capricious flower and its cultivation is a troublesome task. This statement is absolutely not true. To answer the question: how to save chrysanthemums in winter, you need to determine which garden group your chrysanthemum belongs to.

Korean or bush. This group of chrysanthemums is the most hardy, unpretentious and winter-hardy; for the similarity of its leaves with oak trees, it was popularly called "oaks". This group is ideal for beginner gardeners, and even with minimal care will delight with long and long flowering.

Indian or large-flowered. This group of chrysanthemums is a cut flower and the most time-consuming to grow. To obtain large flowers, it requires shaping and constant care. Due to complex agricultural technology and low winter hardiness, it is very rare.

Spherical or multiflora. A relatively new group of chrysanthemums, which quickly became widespread. Distinctive feature of this group is the genetically incorporated spherical shape of the bush.

Preparing for the winter

Regardless of which garden group your chrysanthemum belongs to at the end of August - September for successful wintering a number of preparatory activities should be carried out:

• Chrysanthemum bushes should be checked for pests and diseases and, if necessary, carried out appropriate treatment, because, as you know, strong and healthy plants better endure the winter.
• Feed the bushes with phosphorus-potassium fertilizer, for example, "Potassium Monophosphate", which will increase the frost resistance of plants.
• When a steady cold snap sets in, prune the plants, leaving stumps no more than 10 cm high.

Wintering

There are 3 options for wintering chrysanthemums: in open field, basement or room.

Wintering in open ground. This method of wintering is suitable only for winter-hardy varieties belonging to the group of Korean chrysanthemums.

After preliminary pruning, the bushes must be spudded from all sides. It is very important when performing this process to prevent the formation of pits in which water can accumulate.

Important! Water is the most terrible enemy of chrysanthemum bushes in the winter-spring period. Its accumulation will cause wetting and damping of the bushes in the spring.

Many varieties of chrysanthemums successfully winter in the garden until spring under the snow without building additional shelter, it will be enough just to spud them. But if your region is characterized by frosty winters with little snow, then for a successful wintering you need to build a simple shelter.

To equip the shelter, bricks are placed on the sides of the bush, if there are several bushes, then a whole row can be laid out of them. A wide board, a sheet of slate or iron is placed on top, which it is desirable to press down with something heavy to exclude the possibility of them being blown away by the wind. Thus, you have built a shelter that protects against water ingress and is well ventilated from the sides.

Many use another way to shelter plants for the winter. When stable frosty weather sets in, the bushes are covered with coniferous spruce branches or, in its absence, with tree branches, which are then covered with leaves. For shelter, you can also use artificial materials, such as "Spunbond".

Attention! As a shelter, you can not use sawdust or peat, which have the ability to accumulate and retain moisture, which will inevitably lead to the plants dying out.

Wintering in the basement or cellar. This wintering method is suitable for heat-loving chrysanthemums belonging to the Indian or multiflora groups, it is also used for especially valuable varieties to exclude the possibility of their loss.

When persistent frosts occur, the pruned bushes are dug out of the garden and, together with an earthen clod, are placed in boxes or pots, which are placed in a basement or cellar for further storage, where a low positive temperature is maintained throughout the winter.

Attention! With this method of storage, the bushes are very often affected by various rots, so they must be periodically inspected and, if necessary, treated with fungicides.

Wintering indoors. This wintering method is used mainly for late-flowering varieties from the Indian and spherical groups, which do not have time to open buds in open ground conditions.

At the onset of the first frost, these varieties are dug out of the garden, placed in containers of suitable size and transferred to a bright, cool room. Spherical chrysanthemums look especially beautiful in pots.

After the end of flowering, watering is reduced, the plants are pruned, and for further wintering, pots with plants are placed in a place with a temperature not higher than 5 degrees.

Attention! Chrysanthemum necessarily requires a dormant period at low temperatures. If this condition is not observed, the plants are exhausted and bloom not so abundantly.

Many flower growers are scared off by the need to clean the roots of chrysanthemums for the winter. But after all, the same dahlias or gladioli, which are widespread in gardens, also require annual digging and storage during low temperatures, especially since planting material of chrysanthemums is stored much better than ever-rotting tubers.

Regardless of which storage method you choose, none of them will give a 100% guarantee of the preservation of the roots until spring. Experienced flower growers use a combined wintering method to preserve the most valuable varieties, some of the bushes are covered and left in the open ground, some are dug up.

Your brownie.

It seems to many that chrysanthemums in winter feel great without any additional care. In fact, if you don't care chrysanthemums in autumn, then in the spring you will get weak, disease-prone bushes. And then - if the plant manages to overwinter, and it does not freeze and does not swell.

Therefore, if you want your chrysanthemum to be healthy and pleasing to the eye, give it a little attention in the fall.

Preparing chrysanthemums for storage

There is different ways storage of chrysanthemums in winter, but they can be divided into two main groups: chrysanthemums remain in the open field or are dug up and stored indoors. Unlike, for example, from dahlias, where there are no options and you always have to dig up tubers for the winter, the owners of chrysanthemums have options. For safety, experienced flower growers dig out some of the plants, and some chrysanthemums in winter left in the ground.

What is the preferred method? It depends on two main factors:

Climatic conditions. For most varieties of chrysanthemums, snowy winters, even very cold ones, are not terrible. It is worse when the winter is very wet, or without snow, or with sudden changes in temperature. Here, no matter how you cover the chrysanthemum for the winter, it will be difficult to protect it from damping or freezing.

Chrysanthemum variety. There are heat-loving varieties - Indian, for example. These chrysanthemums for winter left outdoors unless the region has very mild winters. But Korean hybrids of chrysanthemums (we also call them "oak") can winter with the most insignificant shelter.

Chrysanthemums in autumn begin to prepare for the cold only after the first slight frost. It is October, and sometimes - the beginning of November. The plant must have time to harden, and only before the soil freezes chrysanthemums for winter cut off leaving “stumps” 10-20 cm high (for convenience of designating the variety).

Storage of chrysanthemums in winter

Wintering chrysanthemums in the ground

1) Mulching chrysanthemums for the winter. Suitable for frost-resistant varieties of chrysanthemums and snowy winters. At the same time, with the onset of the first frosts, the plant is spudded (they take sawdust, shavings, compost, humus, peat, etc.), and in severe frosts they cover it with spruce branches or simply with branches and sprinkle with dry leaves.

2) Building a shelter for chrysanthemums in winter. This option is more reliable, especially if the winter is capricious. To do this, in autumn, supports are placed around a bush or several bushes of chrysanthemums (bricks are laid, for example), and a board or slate is laid on top of them. Now it remains only to put the covering material on top and fix it. You can take the same spruce branches, or you can use materials like Spandbond or Lutrasil. The main thing is that the shelter should be able to ventilate, otherwise the chrysanthemum may die in winter from an excess of moisture.

3) Wintering of chrysanthemums in trenches. For this method, you should prepare from the end of summer or the beginning of autumn. On a hill (so that moisture does not accumulate), a ditch breaks out at least half a meter deep. The bottom of the trench is covered with sawdust or needles. With the first frosts, chrysanthemums are dug out together with a clod of earth and placed in "wintering" in dense rows. Boards should be placed on top of the trench, and the boards should be covered with a material similar to dense polyethylene. Thus, water will not enter the ditch. There is one feature of this method - chrysanthemums "wake up" early and in the spring they are usually taken out with green shoots.

Digging up chrysanthemums for the winter

It is to this method that experts advise resorting. bushes chrysanthemums for winter dug out of the ground, form a strong bush, get sick less often, bloom earlier. In addition, it is possible to monitor the storage of chrysanthemums in winter - do they dry out, do they rot, do they rot, and if necessary, chrysanthemums can be watered or treated with a fungicide.

True, there are situations when there is no suitable place for storage (temperature - 0 ... + 5 degrees). It can be a cellar, basement, veranda or garage.

If you are a happy owner of a cellar with an earthen floor, then dug out chrysanthemums for the winter are placed directly on the floor - plants will draw moisture from it. And the temperature, as a rule, in such rooms is kept at an optimal level, which will not allow the plants to wake up too early.

But most often, flower growers dig up their shortened chrysanthemums in the fall and place them for wintering in specially prepared boxes. The boxes should contain a mixture of sand and peat (1: 1). And even after the chrysanthemums are dug up and placed in containers, you should not immediately bring them into the room - let the plants stay in the cold air until the final frost.

If you have a choice where to store chrysanthemums in winter, give preference to a bright room. There is an opinion that without light during the winter, the chrysanthemum is depleted, becomes pale and powerless.

That's all the main secrets, thanks to which chrysanthemums will feel great in winter. The main thing is to monitor changes in temperature and moisture: so that the chrysanthemums do not freeze and dry out - on the one hand, they do not start early awakening due to high temperature and didn’t get out - on the other. If you create right conditions for chrysanthemums for the winter- the flowers will thank you generously. Moreover, doing this is not at all difficult.

Chrysanthemums have long fascinated me with their endurance. In autumn, when I came to our friends garden, I could not take my eyes off the plants that were blooming despite the bad weather. They had only two types - yellow in the form of daisies and pink terry.

But the plants grew well, and friends planted several bushes in different corners garden. The effect was wonderful - as if not autumn in the yard, but summer.

Then we got our own garden, and friends gave me a couple of bushes. So I got my first chrysanthemums.

In the future, I tried to purchase other varieties. And often wrong. In the Moscow region, where our garden is located, they sell many different varieties, including those that can only be grown in a greenhouse. Basically, these are large-flowered chrysanthemums with a flower diameter of more than 10 cm. They do not bloom in the ground. Sometimes a bush will fill a lot of buds, but here it’s just cold. He should go to Japan, to the Chrysanthemum Festival. These plants are not for us.

Then I decided to act for sure. In autumn, I was looking for aunts in the market who sell bushes along with flowers. These varieties are definitely from our area, and if they have flowers, then they have time to bloom.

One disadvantage of this method. Often, housewives do not know the varieties or call similar flowers known varieties. For example, I have three white chrysanthemums with the name Umka. But whether there is a "real" Umka among them, I doubt it. For me, this is not the main thing. It is important for me that the chrysanthemums have time to bloom before the snow.

Planting chrysanthemums in the fall is, of course, risky. Weakened by flowering, they may freeze. I had to warm them up like roses. She covered it with spruce branches, put a fruit box, and on top - lutrasil or spunbond.

This did not always help, and the plants froze out. I didn't worry too much. So, these are not very hardy chrysanthemums. And I needed "our" reliable ones. Let them be called "Korean", but they are already acclimatized.

Sometimes I bought bushes too late, when it was already snowing. And grannies with chrysanthemums in baskets reminded me of the fairy tale "12 months", when flowers bloomed in winter.

But it is no longer possible to plant in the snow. Even with shelter, the plants will not overwinter, because they will not have time to take root in the cold ground.

I lowered such roots to spend the winter in the cellar. I put them in a basin and filled the voids with soil. In winter, when I got out jars of pickles, I checked my chrysanthemums. Occasionally "watered" them with snow.

In March, I took out the roots from the cellar for germination and put them in a bright place. Planted in the garden in May. Watered abundantly, and fed once a month. With frequent top dressing, chrysanthemums fatten and later lay buds.

AT middle lane In Russia, small-flowered chrysanthemums with an early and medium flowering period are best wintered. The small size of the flowers they more than compensate for their abundance.

In the markets, the choice of varieties is small. It is not every year that a new color can be found. And yet, I already have seven reliable varieties. Although only three varieties can be named, others are unnamed or "doubtful". But they are "ours", proven - they winter in the open ground.

I'm still digging up three more varieties for the winter. I'm afraid to lose them. Among them is the variety Zhemchuzhina. It is said to be winter hardy. But I want to check in our conditions. When I multiply, I will conduct an experiment: I will send one part of the plant to storage, and I will leave the other in the ground.

I propagate chrysanthemums by dividing the bush and cuttings. I start cuttings in the spring, when the young shoots grow up to 5-7 cm. I carefully break them out at the base and plant them in the soil. From above I pour sand with a layer of 2 cm. I cover it with a jar.

Over the years of growing chrysanthemums, I have accumulated good experience. I would like to give some more advice.

1. Chrysanthemum does not tolerate shade at all. Even slight shading during the day delays flowering.

2. Chrysanthemum is a flower of a short day, that is, it starts flowering when daylight hours decrease. Many people misunderstand this and plant the plant in the shade, where there is less light. This is mistake! Shade is not a short day at all, but a lack of lighting.

3. Chrysanthemums do not like heavy wet soil. I shared flowers with my friends who have just such a soil. With the same care in the summer, their chrysanthemums froze. This means that unfavorable conditions for wintering are created on clay. The soil needs to be seriously loosened.

VARIETIES FOR THE MIDDLE BAND

Talisman, Copper Thunder, Lucy, Youth; Malchish-Kibalchish, Evening lights, Gypsy, Korean, Radiant, Svemba Kare, Radiant, Alexandrite, Flamingo, Swan song, First snow; Petruha, Pearl, Helen, Orange Sunset, Isabelle, Cherry Orchard, Eugenia Grande, Evelyn Bush, Syaivo, Golden Autumn.

4. Covering chrysanthemums with a film will surely lead to their death. Under it, they just get wet. If you want to be safe, mulch with earth and leaves (preferably forest ones). Or cover with a box and spunbond, as described above. There must be air under cover. I do not cover my chrysanthemums (7 varieties). For the winter, I only mulch the roots with soil.

5. Once every three years, chrysanthemums need to be transplanted. They can be divided or just planted deeper. Young plants overwinter better. Transplantation should be carried out only in the spring, when young shoots appear from the ground.

6. If you bought a chrysanthemum late, then do not plant it, but lower it into the basement. But do not water the roots in the cellar! It is necessary to moisten the earth ball minimally, otherwise the bushes begin to grow. The shoots are pulled out, and the plant dies from exhaustion. For the same reason, it is difficult to keep the chrysanthemum at home, at room temperature.

7. After a bad wintering, chrysanthemums lag behind in growth and do not have time to bloom. And for a good wintering, you need to consider rules 1 - 6.

G.P. Safonov, Moscow region

In autumn, gardeners are actively engaged in pruning, sheltering and transplanting plants. You can not ignore the chrysanthemums. Without preparation for winter, they will die.

Flower care is:

• top dressing;
• sanitary cleaning;
• treatment for cortical damage;
• pruning;
• shelter.

top dressing

It is necessary to start preparing chrysanthemums for winter already in early September, when it is still warm enough outside and the soil has not had time to cool down.

Apply phosphorus-potassium fertilizer, which will help increase the winter hardiness of the plant and give it next year lush bloom. Do not use nitrogen fertilizer, as it stimulates the plant to grow, and this cannot be done in the fall.

Bush cleaning

This procedure in the autumn care is required. It is necessary to clean the bush from damaged, dried, rotten leaves and stems. Get rid of dry branches without regret, under shelter from moisture they can begin to rot, gradually moving to the roots. In the spring, the plant will not be able to recover. After preparing for winter, the chrysanthemum should be completely healthy.

Treatment

Per holiday season chrysanthemum is attacked by pests and diseases. To eliminate them, the bush is treated with an antimicrobial drug. If the flower is healthy, do not be lazy and carry out the treatment for preventive purposes. The best time to do this is in October.

If during the examination of the bush it was found spider mite then wipe the leaves and stems with a damp cloth.

Pruning for the winter

Pruning chrysanthemums in autumn is a controversial issue. Some practitioners consider this event to be superfluous in preparation for winter. Others, on the contrary, are cut so that only 15 cm remain from the surface of the earth, explaining a number of advantages. This allows:

• save the vitality of the root system for the next year, do not waste it on the extra length of the stems;
• ease of shelter, no need to bend the stems or build shelter structures;
• saving of covering material.

Shelter

Even frost-resistant varieties of chrysanthemums are best covered. In warm areas, it is enough to use needles, straw and dry branches. In colder areas, when preparing your chrysanthemum for winter, consider more serious shelter. It can be: wooden boxes, boards, slate, bricks, covering material.

When constructing a structure, do not completely block the air; you do not need to press the material tightly against the bush. It is best to cover with a box or make something like a box out of bricks and boards. On top of the frame, lay a covering material, the edges of which are fixed with stones, slate or bricks. Then the wind and cold will not break the protective structure.

Polyethylene film should not be used as a covering material. With the onset of heat, a greenhouse effect sets in under it, which will lead to the decay of flowers.

The sheltering structure is good because the chrysanthemums are covered for the winter and at the same time there is ventilation.

In early spring, remove the shelter, do not be afraid that the flowers will freeze, they are cold-resistant and will tolerate small frosts normally. It will be worse if they are overexposed, they will overheat and wither.

Cellar or trench?

There is an opinion that chrysanthemums are dug up for the winter. Yes, they spend everything first preparatory work, and with the onset of frost, they dig it out with a clod of earth, install it in a box, cover it with earth and leave it in a cellar or unheated veranda.

Such winter shelter is not always successful due to insufficient ventilation and high temperatures inside. The plant wakes up and gives growth, on which the root system wastes its strength. Therefore, the cellar is often replaced with a trench.

The bush is dug up and placed in a special ditch 50-70 cm wide and 50 cm deep. Covered with slate and thrown over the top of the earth.

How to prepare a non-hardy chrysanthemum for winter

Gardeners in the southern regions rarely grow frost-resistant varieties, and rightly so. Engage in breeding zoned plants that are adapted to your climate, taking into account the features.

Non-frost-resistant flower varieties cannot withstand sub-zero temperatures. And in order not to disturb them in the fall, they plant them in flowerpots. This is convenient, as soon as the bush fades, the flowerpot is transferred to a cool and dark room, thus creating ideal conditions for wintering.

When preparing, inspect for damage, if necessary, treat with special means.

Often, winter surprises with the variability of weather conditions, and it is wrong to choose one way to protect plants from frost. Divide the chrysanthemums into groups and try different variants shelter bushes to increase the chances of saving flowers.

Inexperienced flower growers believe that perennials are plants that are deliberately intended for wintering without insulation, easily tolerating cold. But those who value their autumn flower beds should definitely know how to keep chrysanthemums in winter.

Such beautifully flowering perennials really need special winter storage, otherwise by spring they will turn into stunted creatures.

Choosing a way to store chrysanthemums in winter

There are two main ways to store color data in winter time: either the bushes remain in the ground for the winter, or are dug out of the ground with subsequent maintenance indoors. Some flower growers choose one of these methods, others use both at once - for reinsurance, leaving some plants in the soil, some in storage.

Criteria for choosing a storage method

To decide which option is best suited for certain chrysanthemums, let's pay attention to two main criteria:

• Varietal features. For example, hybrids of Korean chrysanthemums easily survive cold winters with minimal warming, while Indian counterparts belonging to heat-loving varieties can be stored in the ground only in regions with warm winters.
• Climate. If the region is characterized by winters with heavy snowfalls, flowers easily endure them even in severe cold. Loose snow warms the roots of plants well and does not allow them to freeze slightly. Winter time, wet or stingy for snowfalls, is a real test for chrysanthemums: their roots will either overheat or freeze.

Having decided on the choice of option, it remains to prepare the chrysanthemums for storage. We are preparing when the first mild frosts have passed, which occur in most regions in October or the first days of November. During this time, the chrysanthemums will harden enough.

Storage of chrysanthemums after digging

Experienced flower growers involved in the cultivation of chrysanthemums recommend not relying on winter permanence, especially in places with an unstable climate, but storing flowers dug up. Moreover, such bushes become more powerful during the winter, more hardy and bloom earlier than their non-digging counterparts.

If you follow the condition of the flowers left in the ground, there is no way, with the digging method, you can keep it under control and, at the first signs of infection or decay, take measures to improve the plant.

Then the question will not arise, how to save chrysanthemums in winter, do you need to dig them up or cover them? The main thing is to provide them with a bright place for storage (without light, the plants fade and weaken) with a temperature of 0 to 5 ° C in the form of a cellar, garage or basement.

How to keep a chrysanthemum in a cellar

• Storage in boxes. We dig out the plants cut off before freezing the soil, leaving the stems 10-15 cm high, and put them in boxes, mixing peat and sand in them in equal parts. Before sending to the cellar, we keep the flower boxes in the cold until the final cold snap: let them harden.
• Ground floor storage. The best option storage - a cellar with an earthen floor. We put the plants on this floor so that the earth does not allow the roots to dry out, and store all winter.

The cellar is good for keeping chrysanthemums in winter in that a sufficiently cold temperature does not allow them to wake up ahead of time and protects their roots from overheating and freezing.

Storage of chrysanthemums in the ground

Before the soil freezes, we cut the bushes, leaving the stems about 15 cm high to indicate the varieties. Next, choose the most suitable option storage of chrysanthemums in open ground.

Wintering under cover

For regions with capricious winters, we choose this method. Without waiting for winter, we install supports made of stone or brick around the plants, put boards on them, and on top - Lutrasil, Spunbond or other covering material so that air enters the chrysanthemums: during the greenhouse effect, the roots will overheat.

Mulching

An excellent option for winter-hardy varieties and winters with heavy snowfalls. After the first frosts, we spud the bushes, introducing mulch from peat, humus, shavings, compost, sawdust, etc. If severe frosts come, we cover the flowers with coniferous paws, or twigs, and fall asleep with dry foliage.

Trench storage

• At the beginning of autumn, we dig a trench from 50 cm deep in an elevated place where water does not linger.
• We put needles or dry sawdust on the bottom.
• After the first frosts, we dig up flowers with an earthy clod and put them tightly together in a trench.
• We cover the shelter with dry, non-rotting boards and polyethylene - to avoid moisture.

Chrysanthemums stored in a trench method wake up early and sprout. In the spring, it remains to land them in a suitable place.

These are all storage methods that answer the question “how to save chrysanthemums in winter” and are available even to novice flower growers. They allow you to save plants without loss in comfortable conditions.

The main thing is to avoid sudden changes in humidity and temperature levels, otherwise the roots may overheat, freeze slightly, or activate too early.