Storm Readiness

Coastal living can be tough on
gardeners

Alpine and many succulent hypertufa troughs can take the cold, but can they take the wind? Our small business is located in New England, right along the coast. And in case you have not been following weather news, the East Coast is targeted for a "major weather event" early next week as three systems collide. All gardeners and landscapers are in the batten-down-the-hatchs mode for this storm, which, coincidentally, falls almost to the day a year after New England was hit with what is called "the Halloween nor'easter."

I had planned on posting about heeling in your troughs (to heel or not to heel) in a future post. However, with the looming storm I've bumped up the topic to address the more pressing issue of storm preparedness. Miniature conifers are cold hardy but tender in the face of gale-force winds. They must be protected. Hard winds can wear them out and kill them. It is best to cover them (whether they are heeled in or not) to guard them from the force of unrelenting winds. In the photos below you'll see a patch of some of my troughs that I've heeled in for the winter and also (below that), my make-shift weather shelters that will protect the vulnerable vertical conifers from destructive winds.

Be creative -- but be vigilant.

Ready for winter: Most of my troughs have been
tucked in for the winter, still awaiting a cozy
coverage of salt marsh hay.

But wait: A "major weather event" is headed our way and
the vertical conifers need protection from the wind.
Yes, that is a bowling ball on the left, being used as
weight to keep the cover in tact. You've got to work with what you've got!