Protection

Protection, as used by the gardener, is an indefinite term. A plant may need protection from living agencies, as animals, birds, insects, or plants (including fungi and weeds), or it may need protection from the weather,—heat, cold, rain, drought. Generally, however, the gardener means winter-protection, which again covers two very distinct ideas,—freezing injury and mere mechanical injury. Most Cape bulbs, for example, are ruined if they are frozen; tulips are not. Yet Cape bulbs may sometimes be wintered outdoors if they are protected by a covering heavy enough to keep out frost. Strawberries, on the contrary, are covered after frost with a light mulch, which is designed merely to keep the plants from being heaved by alternate freezing and thawing. These are the main objects of winter protection in the East, at least with herbs. In the prairie states the fruit-trees also need protection from the hot drying winds of summer and from sun-scald, which are not the important considerations with eastern fruit-growers. See Winter Protection. CH

See also

Allied topics are discussed under Greenhouse, Coldframes, and Hotbeds; Diseases and Insects; Weeds; Transplanting.

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References

External links