9/28/2023 - By Norman Lafaille

As I begin to write this, it’s hard to believe that in just a few weeks, nurseries across the country will begin their annual process of preparing for fall and winter. The three main topics we’ll cover here are nutrition, weed management, and overwintering. With that in mind, I’d like to introduce to you Mike Emmons, a master of fall and winter preparations.

Mike is enjoying retirement these days, but not before dedicating 36 years to Prides Corner Farms in Lebanon, CT. This 500-plus acre nursery services garden centers across the northeast and mid-Atlantic. Mike also served as president of IPPS from 2009-2010 and received the prestigious Award of Merit for his time and contributions. Recently, I had the chance to sit down with Mike to discuss all things winter prep, to which he graciously shared his knowledge for all of us to learn from. I have written up some of the most important lessons to take into the season, to confidently go into spring on a strong foundation:

Nutrition

Dialing in the proper nutrient levels is very important year-round, but especially in the Fall. Although you want your plants to retain a healthy level of nutrients, it’s also very important that your plants don’t receive too much. A plant that heads into winter too “flush” can be prone to bark split and other problems. Nutrient release can be controlled by using the correct fertilizer longevity earlier in the year.

POLYON® controlled-release fertilizer delivers the proper nutrient level throughout the growing season. As an example, in CT, Prides Corner would use a 6–7-month fertilizer starting in March and April so that the nutrient release would taper-off as fall approached, creating a healthy level of nutrients for overwintering but not “too much” to cause problems. Using different custom formulations of POLYON fertilizer has allowed Prides Corner to dial it in.

Weed Management

Weed Control has evolved extensively over the last 30 years. At Prides Corner, we used a variety of products and techniques to get the best control possible. In the Fall, many plants received a goal-based product (such as Biathlon) as it took care of many of the winter weeds we would battle.

Marengo would be another option. (Disclaimer: Be sure to wait at least two weeks after application before putting any overwintering plastic on the hoop houses and of course, always read the label before use.) We also used rice hulls on our newly planted material to help with our overall weed pressure and reduce the amount of hand weeding. Keeping roadways and ditches free of weeds was also an important action step so we have significantly less “weed seed” blowing around.

Overwintering in hoop houses

So, once you have the nutrition and weed control in place, the next challenge is proper overwintering in the hoop houses. At Prides Corner, to cover the hoop houses for the winter, we used over 50 lineal miles of overwintering film (3 mm with 55% opacity on almost all of our hoop houses) and 75 lineal miles of poly blanket. The second hoop system and poly blankets are used for cold-sensitive crops, like azalea, pieris, evergreen holly, etc. The poly blanket was typically a 2 mm and was either clear or 55% opacity.

For further protection for the most sensitive plants, we kept them at least 8 feet from the ends of the houses and filled that space with a more cold hardy plant. We installed Min/Max thermometers scattered throughout the hoop houses to easily monitor just how cold and hot it got. This helped to determine whether we would use the poly blanket or not in a given cold event. Although labor intensive, this system has saved countless plants and millions of dollars each year.

(This system of overwintering with the secondary hoops and poly blankets was developed by Mike Emmons and the knowledge was shared through IPPS).

Your Harrell’s Rep is Here to Help

As you can see, preparing for fall and winter takes time and proper planning (especially north of the Mason-Dixon line). It is a daunting task, but hopefully, these tips will help to provide you with a foundation to build on for your overwintering techniques. As always, your local Harrell's Rep is happy to assist all of our growers in preparing for your fall and winter challenges.