There is a guy that lives around the corner from me that takes his clematic down off the trellis at this time of year and buries it in the soil.

Oh and I wouldn't use peat moss as it doesn't provide much insolation or so I have been told.

Sierra

I would think grass clippings would work fine. I mostly use peat moss and leaves. When that runs out I have even used pine shavings meant for hamsters. Go for the unscented type. I would use cedar but it’s too expensive. In spring I just scrape the shavings off the ground as best I can and throw in the fire pit. I have used light fluffy types of potting soil or even spare garden soil, just as long as it’s covered and kept dry in winter (as best you can) and removed in spring.

My method of application varies. For clematis, I basically just mound peat moss or leaves around the base of the plant, maybe 8 inches high. You might want to go higher. Or sometimes I cover with peat moss, then a layer of leaves. I then cover all this with a doubled up sheet of newspaper and weigh that down with rocks or clumps of garden soil, even wood pieces. Just to keep the wind from blowing it away. Once it snows it usually stays in place anyways. As my clematis are mostly pruning group c (blooms on new wood) for the winter I am mostly concerned with protecting the root zone. The top growth usually dies and dries out over winter.

For tender roses I basically take a smaller cardboard box, remove the bottom and top flaps, and put this around the rose. Sort of a makeshift rose collar. I then fill in and around the rose with peat moss, mounding up over the crown of the rose, then a layer of leaves. I then cover the "box" with burlap, or news paper, or anything really and weigh that down with stones, soil, or wood slats. Sometimes I cheat and remove the bottom flaps from the box, but not the top flaps. Thus after it’s placed around a plant and filled, sometimes you can just close the box flaps.

No matter what you do, once you get a few good snowfalls ensure you pile lots of snow around and over things. Once spring comes the boxes may be falling apart, but they usually last during the winter.

Among the items listed, hostas are hardy to at least zone 2, but someone more familiar with your area might be able to tell you if they need protection. If all it takes is a bit of mulch on the ground, then better safe than sorry I suppose.

For some of my more tender woody shrubs, I wait until it snows, then mound lots of snow around the shrub, then put a cardboard box over it to try to limit wind damage. I know in warmer zones they might worry about things overheating under there, but that’s not the case in zone 3. I even covered my yellow ribbon cedar with a garbage can the past two winters.

Good luck. It’s sort of fun to experiment and think of inventive ways to winter protect things.

Glen

I wouldn't use fresh grass clipping for mulch, dry clippings that are brown would be ok as long as it doesn't mat down in the crown, this will only cause the plant to rot when springtime arrives.

In the spring when the native trees unfurl their leaves is when I start to push back the straw off the plants, placing the straw to the sides of the plant which will act as a ground cover mulch which will decompose in time amending the soil.

Are there any wheat farmers around your area Hunner, maybe they will sell you some bales.

Sharon

Oh my I said snow, watch it will snow tonight. ;)

Sharon

Somewhere I've heard of people using the pink fiberglass insulation. Has anyone tried this? And what happens to it if it gets wet? I suppose a plastic sheet over top would keep most of the moisture out.

Laurie

The leaves will not break down to form "soil pockets" on top of your bark mulch; they will just more-or-less disintegrate rather invisibly, and the effect is not unsightly...your cedar mulch will soon change from its fresh reddish color to a subtle gray color, and the dried leaves will look entirely natural...so will spruce cones, and all the other bits of vegetation that will naturally accumulate on it.
So, yes, it's okay to leave them.
Unless you were figuring on vacuuming your mulch once a week or so, LOL! (Nah, I don't even do that inside!)
Lori

Another nice thing is that you can cover the row crop cover with extra mulching material for added protection. Cover the top of the cover with straw, leaves, whatever, and you can just brush it off in the spring, or roll up the row crop cover and all the mulch is quickly removed. No careful raking and pulling in the spring.

Emily in sunny Fairbanks

Just thought I'd mention Flax straw. When I planted my chokecherries along the fence (90' and 70'), I wanted to do a heavy, economical (as in free) mulch that wouldn't break down quickly so I used flax straw. Around here the farmers tend to burn the straw because it doesn't bale easily and takes forever to break down in the soil. Anyway, eight years later and that flax straw is still there - it's since been covered with leaves and wood chips, etc, and it has broken down/softened up some but for the most part, it's still there. It doesn't pack down/mold/hold moisture. Another bonus - volunteer seedlings, if they do occur, are a very pretty blue - much like the ornamental flax but annual and one branching stem per seed.