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I am new to gardening. Yesterday I just bought 6 shrubs in pots and planted them in my garden. Unfortunately, we had our first frost of this fall at the following night. I was so worried that they could not survive.
They are "blue star" Junipers, Azalea, and Rhododendron.
Any thing I could do to make it up? I am in zone 5.
Qian, if the shrubs are marked as hardy in zone 5, they should survive. You might throw an old sheet or burlap over them if you feel they need extra protection, and make sure you mulch them well to protect the roots.
Yes, they are labeled hardy for our zone. I will double check the mulch. Actually, we have very heavy clay, the earth are blocks! I mean, they are not loose at all. I am afraid there are too much room among the earth blocks, and so between the potted soil and the local soil.
the frost in Ct wasn't too bad - not a killing frost... I'm sure you had id worse than us.. be sure to water them well, and as late as possible in the evening when you expect frost (heat caused by evaporation is often enough to deter a light frost).. the roots need to be kept healthy to make it. They do need to have leaves on the branches for a little while. I am by far no pro at perennials - just a fan of the late fall clearance rack at the nursery.
The ones that make it for me usually have a lot of liquid fertilizer, a lot of water, and as the moon said - most importantly throw a sheet over them on the near frost nights.. (even if it is not 32 - the wind will drop the temps down a few degrees .. keep an eye on the dew point when you watch the weather when it is below 35 - cover them. or just put a sheet every night until the freeze comes in november.
myself, I bury the base up as high as possible with straw on anything that hasn't gone through at least 1 winter. if that is all you do, they will probably still be okay - straw is an excellent insulator.
-joe-
Rhododendron are the most fragile on the list, in my opinion. One thing that helps is to use a root stimulating fertilizer when you plan. (Otherwise don't fertilize, as you don't want top growth). You could probably still dig around the hole and put some in. I would probably protect the rhododendron with burlap or some type of wind screen, but that's just me. In general they like a protected site with trees or a wall behind them. And, keep them well watered until Thanksgiving or so. It does help.
I put my rhododendrons before a western wall to protect them from the west cold wind in winter. Actually I found one of them changed------the new leaves she had turned to brown. I could tell they were suffered from too low temperature...crying, too sad! The junipers and azaleas are OK now, but the azaleas are not as good as my old ones which was planted earlier.
we expect a colder and snowier winter than normal... according to the almanac
just take a few minutes to see that the roots will be warm as long as possible. and safe as reasonable from snow damage the first year
-joe-
