Welcoming Winter: Protecting the Landscape with Care
November 2025 blog
by: Mitchell Nesbitt, Nursery Manager
November invites a quiet shift. As the days grow shorter and the wind picks up across the land, our gardens begin to settle into their winter rhythms. This is a time for gentle preparation—a moment to support the land through the months ahead by offering shelter, softness, and thoughtful protection. At Helping Nature Heal, winter care is an act of stewardship that ensures a flourishing return.
Nestling Plants into the Season
Just as animals seek shelter and warmth, the plants in our care benefit from protective gestures. Root systems, bark, buds, and branches are all more vulnerable during the freeze-thaw cycles and exposed conditions of winter. Offering protection now supports resilience when spring arrives.
Mulching for Insulation and Moisture
A layer of mulch gently tucked around the base of plants helps maintain consistent soil temperature and retain moisture through winter. This natural blanket slows temperature fluctuations and shelters delicate feeder roots near the surface.
Scientific note: A 4-inch layer of organic mulch, such as straw, shredded leaves, or untreated wood chips, reduces frost penetration and supports the life of beneficial soil microbes throughout the dormant season.
Shelter in Brush and Branches
Prunings from your fall cleanup or nearby woodlands can be laid gently over perennial beds or newly planted areas. This mimicry of nature’s forest floor helps catch snow and prevent compaction, while shielding young plants from windburn and ice.
Using leftover holiday greens, cuttings, or gathered twigs is an easy and beautiful way to extend this seasonal care.
Wrapping with Burlap and Natural Cloth
Some shrubs, especially those prone to winter burn or salt spray, benefit from being wrapped with burlap or natural fabrics. This wrap reduces moisture loss through transpiration and protects tender buds from harsh exposure.
Choose breathable material and wrap loosely allowing air circulation while diffusing the wind’s sting.
Scientific note: Burlap creates a microclimate that stabilizes humidity around the plant, reducing desiccation during winter winds.
Bundling Branches and Tying Forms
For multi-stemmed shrubs like arborvitae, cedar, or upright junipers, gently tying the branches together with natural jute twine can help prevent snow load damage. This keeps the form upright and prevents splitting under heavy drifts.
This gesture isn’t about restraint, rather a supportive embrace that allows the plant to weather winter in one piece.
Raised Bed Covers and Cloche Shelters
Raised beds cool more quickly than ground-level soil, so protecting them offers added benefit. You can use low hoops, floating row cover, or simple plastic sheeting to deflect ice and snow.
For individual plants or smaller spaces, glass or plastic cloches—like upturned jars or milk jugs—offer small domes of shelter that amplify warmth and reduce freeze impact.
Fencing as a Gentle Barrier
Young trees and shrubs are especially attractive to deer, rabbits, and other browsers in the hungry months of winter. Adding a simple fence—made of mesh, brush, or even biodegradable snow fencing—keeps vulnerable trunks and buds safe from nibbling.
Pairing this with scent-based deterrents or motion-activated elements offers an added layer of gentle discouragement.
Container Plants and Perennials in Pots
Containers can be tucked close to buildings, buried in leaves or straw, or even moved into a sheltered shed or garage. Roots in pots are more exposed than those in the ground and benefit from an extra layer of care.
Scientific note: Soil in containers freezes faster and deeper than in the ground, leading to cellular damage in root tissue. Protecting pots helps maintain viability through the freeze cycles.