Gardening question: winter watering

[bobmark226]

From what I understand, evergreens continue to grow during the winter, though at a slower pace. Paul James, HGTV's "gardening guy," talks a great deal about needing to water them in Winter.

I have any number of new evergreens, a row of Thuja Green Giants along the side road, and a few cedars, twisted and weeping, the latter which is in a well-wrapped container along with a couple smaller varieties I'll plant in the ground in the Spring. Except for the twisted cedar, none of them look too great right now, but I also don't know if it's just a slight winter color change that will renew with more sun and warmth come Spring.

We haven't had any snow here to speak of and no rain for weeks, so there are a lot of concerns (freezing, then root rot with thawing), but one is "how do I water in Winter?" I was just looking at the container planted tree and it's dry. I was about to fill the watering can but it just somehow seemed all wrong in this freezing weather. (Today we're around ten.)

So...my question is when and how do you do this, if at all?

TIA for any help.

Bob

[testkitchen45]

LOVE "Walmart Greeter Wannabe." :D

They do need water; just use a watering can & don't permit runoff (go slowly). Do you have a nursery nearby with Certified Master Gardeners on staff? Water protects the roots during a freeze, and they do need some water in winter.

[donnamp14]

Bob- Now you know why they call snow "white gold" for gardens! Here in Boston we don't have a snow cover, either, and I am a little concerned. It's too cold now to water, it'll just freeze immediately, I think.

I think I heard or read somewhere that we ought to water trees heavily in the fall. I got some Thuga Green Giants this past September, and I hope they make it. Ours are tiny. How tall are yours?

I consider myself a novice to gardening, and I have learned a lot from gardenweb. Have you seen that site yet?

Good luck!

-DOnna

[Arete]

Somewhere I think I heard that you are supposed to water them when it is above freezing. But I may have hallucinated that.

I will tell you that my neighbor (who has a yard full of very nice looking evergreens that are growing like crazy, all of which they planted in the last 2-3 years when the trees were about 4' - 10' tall. They've all grown at least a foot!!!) swears that the secret to healthy trees is to also spray water on the trees/needles. She says that they actually absorb moisture through the needles so it really helps (especially out here in CO, where the humidity is generally around 20-30% unless it's raining.) I definitely wouldn't spray the needles when it is below freezing though. I do know that she waters her young trees when about every 1-2 weeks in the winter, the schedule is basically dictated by the temperature. We had cold temps for quite a few weeks in a row, so she just waited it out. I just saw her out watering yesterday (it was a balmy 50 degrees!). I have no idea if she is right about the spraying water on the needles, but her trees are looking great.