Hi All,
My husband and I live in New Mexico (dry climate) and we need advice on how to care for and what to expect from our shrubs during the winter months. We recently moved from a home with xeriscaping so this is our first winter doing this. My husband turned off our sprinkler system about a month ago because of the freezing temperatures at night. Since then we have watered them here and there (maybe once a week) and our shrubs have since turned brown or became very dry. We have a Japanese maple in which the leaves are shriveled up, dry and crumble at the touch - is this typical of this kind of tree during the winter? We have a bush that is a ground cover bush and it has turned a reddish brown color. Is there any chance of recovery for these plants? What do we need to be doing to maintain them? My next step is contacting a landscaping company but I figured I'd try this first. Any help is much appreciated!!!
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
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- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
The Japanese maple is a deciduous tree. It will drop all its leaves and go dormant for the winter and in spring will put out a new set of leaves. I have one that survives my zone 6 winters just fine. Once it is dormant, it needs very little water (but not none). If you get occasional rain or snow, it will be fine. If you are getting no precipitation, I would water it well a couple times a month.
Might the ground cover bush be a kind of prostrate juniper, evergreen?
Mine does get less green, kind of purplish in winter, but if it is a juniper, it should not be turning brown. Again, it should need only occasional watering, if there is no precipitation.
prostrate juniper
To help with any other shrubs, we would need to know what they are. If you don't know, post pictures in the plant ID section. Instructions for posting pictures here are in New to Helpful Gardener? under Helpful Tips and Suggestions for New Members. Welcome to the Forum!
Might the ground cover bush be a kind of prostrate juniper, evergreen?
Mine does get less green, kind of purplish in winter, but if it is a juniper, it should not be turning brown. Again, it should need only occasional watering, if there is no precipitation.
prostrate juniper
To help with any other shrubs, we would need to know what they are. If you don't know, post pictures in the plant ID section. Instructions for posting pictures here are in New to Helpful Gardener? under Helpful Tips and Suggestions for New Members. Welcome to the Forum!
Thanks so much for your help! The ground cover bush looks like the one in the picture. The color is a purplish color but I don't see green.. It has snowed and rained at least 3 times since turning the sprinklers system off (about a month and a half ago) plus we've watered them twice, so I am not sure why it is not green like the neighbors.. Will watering it more often in 30-40 degree weather be damaging to the bush or will it help bring some of the green back? As for the shrub that I am not sure about, My computer is not working at the moment so I am unable to post a photo of it, however, there are two of them - one is yellow and the needles are flaking off while the other is green and healthy. Not sure why one is doing well and the other isn't. I guess my main questions are is it possible to bring a plant back after it becomes dried out and if so, how do I do this durning the colder months?
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Don't water more! When plants are dormant in cold weather, they are not taking up much water. Therefore if you water more, the water just sits there and rots the roots out.
Would have to have more information to try to figure out why one shrub is dying and the other is not. When you say "needles" that sounds like some kind of evergreen conifer (pine, fir spruce, etc). Therefore it should not be dropping needles. By the time conifers drop needles it is often too late to save them.
Other kinds of plants may look dead and just be dormant.
Would have to have more information to try to figure out why one shrub is dying and the other is not. When you say "needles" that sounds like some kind of evergreen conifer (pine, fir spruce, etc). Therefore it should not be dropping needles. By the time conifers drop needles it is often too late to save them.
Other kinds of plants may look dead and just be dormant.