Martha Stewart has revealed the method she uses to preserve her outdoor plants during the winter season via a recent Instagram post. She showed off her boxwood shrub in her Bedford home in New York with the caption, “Long pieces of burlap fabric unrolled in my long Boxwood Alle, can only mean one thing- it’s time to cover my precious shrubs and edges for winter.”
Martha gave further details on her blog about this protective practice for outdoor plants in preparation for winter. She noted that the burlap method protects plants from heavy ice, wind, and snow. It also allows for air circulation and is biodegradable.
Expert insight on whether you should wrap your outdoor plants for winter
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Landscape designer Hadley Peterson says Martha’s form of plant protection is right because a lack of it might cause plant branches to break. Although she does not wrap her own boxwood and would not advise anyone to except the plants are in an exposed area.
Christian Koether, a garden designer, also shared her thoughts on protecting outdoor plants during the winter. Like Hadley, she thinks that getting your plants burlapped or not should be based on location and the microclimate. She advised gardeners to consider three factors, heavy snowfall, wind, and road salt, before copying Martha.
Martha Stewart’s tips for beginner gardeners
Last year, Martha shared insightful tips to guide those who want to take their first step in gardening. She suggested that a beginner gardener should start off by slowly building their skills as there is so much to learn.
The homemaking business guru recommended seed catalogs to starters to help them carefully select their first seed. She also warned that the physical aspect of gardening, such as weeding and watering, requires effort. It is worth considering that Martha has a crew to help with her gardening; hence, results may not be the same.