Canadian winters require a lot from your landscaping, especially at the end. As snow and ice melt, you need landscape drainage solutions to help your plants handle the cold water. Plus, severe cold can damage sensitive foliage and roots. Thankfully, you can help your landscaping survive the winter and bounce back in the spring. Here’s how.
How to Prevent Root Injury
When the soil gets too cold and dry, roots are affected. A lack of snow can actually make this problem worse because normally a layer of snow will help insulate the roots. Snow may be cold, but it retains heat and protects the roots from damage. Without it, you need to add your own insulation to the soil in the form of mulch.
In the fall, adding in a few inches of mulch will keep your plant’s roots warmer throughout the winter. As an added benefit, mulch will also retain water and keep weed growth down, so your spring landscaping will be off to an even better start.
Landscaping Drainage Solutions
You need drainage solutions for your yard. There are many options that look good too:
- Rock designs: You can use rocks of various sizes to move water safely off your landscape. Put small rocks along the edge of garden beds to shed water. Place medium rocks at low points in the garden so water cannot collect there. Lastly, place larger rocks under your downspouts and use the rocks to carry the water away.
- Driveway drainage: Frequently, driveways collect water in the winter and deliver it to your landscape. If your landscape suffers this problem, you may want to install a grate on the edge of the driveway, that collects runoff and delivers it to the curb.
Environmental Damage
Your driveway may bring another danger to your garden—road salt. While useful to break up icy conditions, the salt will burn your plants and, if it contaminates the soil, prevent them from absorbing water. The result may be a yellow or brown spot on your lawn or garden come spring.
To prevent salt damage, you can limit your use of salt and ensure you’re not applying it too close to the garden. When you shovel, try to leave behind the salt instead of depositing it onto the lawn with the snow. If you need to use more salt, consider using cat litter instead. It provides traction and doesn’t harm your landscape.
At Wright Landscape Services, we can help you maintain your landscaping throughout the winter so it’s ready to bloom in the spring. If you need root protection, or landscaping drainage solutions, reach out to us.
Need inspiration?
When you start to think about designing the perfect yard, deck, patio or backyard oasis, it can be helpful to have some solid ideas of what you want to achieve. We can help with that.