How to prepare for winter

Question

We just purchased a house with beautiful landscaping done by the previous owner. My husband was telling me we will have to cover some of the plants for the entire winter. Our winter is really only a few months long, but that seems like quite a while to have big plastic eyesores in our yard. Is he correct? I don’t know all the names of the plants we have but here are the ones I do know:

Japanese Maple
morning glory (a lot of that)
rhododendrons
cone shaped cattail looking grass
rose bushes
hydrangeas
a lot of various ivy,
various decorative cover grasses

That seems like a lot of plastic! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

First off, plants do not need to be covered the entire coarse of winter. This will inevitably lead to their ultimate demise. They need only be covered during extreme frosts or freezes, and then only the most tender of plants need covering. Secondly, when you do cover a plant, I would recommend using cloth (sheets, blankets) rather than plastic. Plastic collects condensation, which can freeze during cold weather and cause harm to the plants.

For more information on covering/protecting your plants in winter, these articles will help: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/problems/enviromental/protecting-plants-winter.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/environmental/frost-how-to-protect-your-plants.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/problems/enviromental/protect-plants-in-freeze.htm