The first snow has hit the ground in New England to mixed reviews.  Love it or hate it, winter is here.   By now, most of us have put our gardens to bed for the season.  If you haven’t found the time yet, here are a few needs to consider.

To cut back or not to cut back?

It’s a question of winter forage.  Consider leaving the more attractive seed heads of perennials and grasses.  Birds and mammals find a great deal of food this way.  Native plants are sure to be on their menu, plus many seed heads are striking against newly-fallen snow.  A clump of  bee balm (Oswego tea, Monarda spp.) gracefully arrays its dusty-purplish stems, each pom-pom seedhead capped with snow.  Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) gleam bright gold and copper with blue-purple patina in low winter sun.

Berries

Berries of viburnums, winterberry (Ilex verticillata), cat berry (Iles mucronata) and others provide much wanted color in snowy times.  Native crab apples (Malus ioensis, M. coronaria), plums (Prunus americana) and hawthorns (Crataegus viridis, C. phaenopyrum, and many others) are also gorgeous and often hold fruit late into the season. Plant these, and you are almost certain to see waxwings and other birds flock to them.

Winter Protection

Early winter is the time to cover your evergreen groundcovers and tender perennials.  Winter cover will preserve foliage from sun and wind burn. Cover can also help Southeastern and Northwestern plants endure the hard freezes of colder climates.  Boughs trimmed from firs and spruces provide the best cover; their dense and stiff needles provide good loft and insulation.   Other evergreens are also good.  Lacking access to those, you can use dry oak leaves instead.  Oak leaves won’t break down much over the season and a few small branches criss-crossed over will prevent the cover from blowing off.  Fresh burlap, folded over a few times loosely to provide loft and also lightly weighted with sticks, can also work.

For those who enjoy the alpine gems of the Rockies and the Southwest, warmer, wetter winters call for protective cover.  As well, snow cover is less reliable than in the past.  This can mean sunburn on cushion plants and wet-rot on Lewisias, plus mountain and desert species of Opuntias (prickly pears).  Row covers with rigid hoops, or home-made versions thereof, topped with translucent plastic will curb the sun’s glare while keeping the crowns of your plants dry.

While enjoying the warmth of home, now is also a good time to begin dreams and plans for next year’s native plantings.

Rolf Schilling is Horticulturist & Plant Records Coordinator For the New England Wild Flower Society and it's Botanic Garden, Garden in the Woods.