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Urban Garden Winterizing Update Part One
by
TheLastLeafGardener
(IC: blogger)
Yesterday was the third Sunday of Advent, a season of preparation. And while the preparation referred to re this particular time period is spiritual, gardens, at least in the climate where I live, need preparation too.
They need preparation for the W word, W being winter, a season that does not officially begin for five days, but a season that is already occurring in New York City where I live and maintain an urban garden on my terrace.
My garden consists of an array of perennials including flowers, herbs, ornamental grasses, trees, shrubs and vines; and they have provided me with such joy during their peak times when they are lush, the least I can do is provide them with a comfy home for the holidays and throughout winter.
A number of years ago when I first began to investigate methods for winterizing my urban garden, a man (named Jay P) suggested I build a cold frame by using wooden beams, hinges and plexa-glass, which he ultimately did for me. I even decorated it with outdoor Christmas. A few photo-ops of our endeavor can be seen in images one through four.
The cold frame was built in such a manner that it could be disassembled for storage during non-winter months, which I did after using it that first winter. After it was reassembled the following year I added garland which can be seen in images five through eight.
(To read more specifics on the construction details re my cold frame, please refer to the guest post I did for Fern Richardson's Life on the Balcony @ https://www.facebook.com/TheLastLeafGardener/app_119255214825893)
The following year, all the flora I grew was established enough that they did not require being in a cold frame; however they still required protection. My solution was to do wrap-winterizing, a method of wrapping each container in bubble wrap, then adding a layer of burlap, and tying everything together with jute. I have produced a mini-movie (that is in my Vimeo library) featuring this technique and if you'd like to see it, I've provided a link within the support materials of this entry.
The images featured in placeholders nine through twelve feature a few details from my first year of the wrap winterizing method; while images thirteen through eighteen feature details from the second year of winterizing by wrapping, and images nineteen through twenty-two feature details of my third year of winterizing by wrapping, when I added name tags to my flora.
(Info on the name tags is @ http://www.thelastleafgardener.com/search/label/Name%20Tag%20Project )
Moreover, for that particular year, Juan V and I had my contorted hazelnut "serve" as a Christmas tree (image twenty-three) and it inspired me so much that I rendered an image of it into my Christmas card for that year (image twenty-four).
But last year after the winter wrap (where a very small portion can be seen in image twenty-six), I got a small Christmas tree (image twenty-seven); however, I still used my contorted hazelnut as a Christmas tree (image twenty-eight).
A major difference in last year's winter from the winters prior to that is I have had an array of birds visit my garden and some of them can be seen in the photo-ops numbered twenty-nine through thirty-six.
I had two wind related accidents in my garden during the 2012-13 winter. The first was when my Christmas tree in its stand landed on its side after gusts of wind (picture thirty- seven).
The second was when a winter nor'easter blew down the larch (picture thirty-eight) that I've had for a good number of years which is something I shared with gardener extraordinaire and HT comrade who can be found @ http://www.hometalk.com/o0ocpyc5gb.
I am happy to say that my larch is recovering well and as for my experience with last year's Christmas tree, a building super helped me secure it.
This year's Christmas tree is much larger and hopefully sturdier.
I'll post pictures of it along with photo-ops of my 2013-14 winterizing efforts in my next post when I conclude my urban garden winterizing update.
They need preparation for the W word, W being winter, a season that does not officially begin for five days, but a season that is already occurring in New York City where I live and maintain an urban garden on my terrace.
My garden consists of an array of perennials including flowers, herbs, ornamental grasses, trees, shrubs and vines; and they have provided me with such joy during their peak times when they are lush, the least I can do is provide them with a comfy home for the holidays and throughout winter.
A number of years ago when I first began to investigate methods for winterizing my urban garden, a man (named Jay P) suggested I build a cold frame by using wooden beams, hinges and plexa-glass, which he ultimately did for me. I even decorated it with outdoor Christmas. A few photo-ops of our endeavor can be seen in images one through four.
The cold frame was built in such a manner that it could be disassembled for storage during non-winter months, which I did after using it that first winter. After it was reassembled the following year I added garland which can be seen in images five through eight.
(To read more specifics on the construction details re my cold frame, please refer to the guest post I did for Fern Richardson's Life on the Balcony @ https://www.facebook.com/TheLastLeafGardener/app_119255214825893)
The following year, all the flora I grew was established enough that they did not require being in a cold frame; however they still required protection. My solution was to do wrap-winterizing, a method of wrapping each container in bubble wrap, then adding a layer of burlap, and tying everything together with jute. I have produced a mini-movie (that is in my Vimeo library) featuring this technique and if you'd like to see it, I've provided a link within the support materials of this entry.
The images featured in placeholders nine through twelve feature a few details from my first year of the wrap winterizing method; while images thirteen through eighteen feature details from the second year of winterizing by wrapping, and images nineteen through twenty-two feature details of my third year of winterizing by wrapping, when I added name tags to my flora.
(Info on the name tags is @ http://www.thelastleafgardener.com/search/label/Name%20Tag%20Project )
Moreover, for that particular year, Juan V and I had my contorted hazelnut "serve" as a Christmas tree (image twenty-three) and it inspired me so much that I rendered an image of it into my Christmas card for that year (image twenty-four).
But last year after the winter wrap (where a very small portion can be seen in image twenty-six), I got a small Christmas tree (image twenty-seven); however, I still used my contorted hazelnut as a Christmas tree (image twenty-eight).
A major difference in last year's winter from the winters prior to that is I have had an array of birds visit my garden and some of them can be seen in the photo-ops numbered twenty-nine through thirty-six.
I had two wind related accidents in my garden during the 2012-13 winter. The first was when my Christmas tree in its stand landed on its side after gusts of wind (picture thirty- seven).
The second was when a winter nor'easter blew down the larch (picture thirty-eight) that I've had for a good number of years which is something I shared with gardener extraordinaire and HT comrade who can be found @ http://www.hometalk.com/o0ocpyc5gb.
I am happy to say that my larch is recovering well and as for my experience with last year's Christmas tree, a building super helped me secure it.
This year's Christmas tree is much larger and hopefully sturdier.
I'll post pictures of it along with photo-ops of my 2013-14 winterizing efforts in my next post when I conclude my urban garden winterizing update.
Enjoyed the project?
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Published December 16th, 2013 11:00 AM
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Polly Zieper on Apr 18, 2014ALovely display!My fvorite part is the flowers in the baskets.
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