You worked hard to keep your garden healthy and flourishing. But the winter cold can wipe out the amazing gains you made earlier in the year after putting in all of that hard work. And it only takes a few short months to undo your previous efforts. But the good news is you can protect your plants by installing a new ground cover or replenishing the existing cover in your landscape bed.

Although Gresham, Oregon is not known for blistering cool winters, we sometimes experience cool or freezing weather, anytime this happens, the ground hardens, and your plants often suffer. There are several ways ground coverings shield your plants from low temperatures. Ground covers regulate soil temperature, protect your plants from weeds, and help your soil retain moisture.

Regulate the temperature of the soil in your landscape beds.

Shrubs in landscape bed protected by rock ground covering in Gladstone, OR.

Ground covers regulate soil temperature and prevent damage that can occur if it gets abnormally warm and your plants begin to come out of dormancy too early. Should your plants exit winter dormancy too soon and then get hit by a new bout of cool weather, they could experience lasting damage.

Since ground coverings present a solid barrier against extreme temperature changes, your plant roots don't experience the fluctuations brought about by changing weather. So, mulch or rock ground coverings are the perfect addition to your landscape beds as they act as a form of insulation.

Ground covers protect your plants from winter weeds.

When the topic of protecting plants from the cool winter comes up, seldom do we think of weeds. That's because wintertime is when most plants go into dormancy. However, some weeds thrive in the winter here in Oregon. Some common winter annual weeds in the region include chickweed, common mallow, and henbit.

While ground covers don't prevent weeds from sprouting, they do stop them from breaking through the coverings and reaching the surface where they can compete with your plants for nutrients and sunlight. In addition to these benefits, weed-free landscape beds are more aesthetically pleasing and will look better than landscape beds that are filled with weeds.

Ground covers help your landscape beds by retaining moisture.

Flowerbed with mulch ground covering in Happy Valley, OR.

One of the biggest challenges that winter poses to your plants is that cool temperatures deny the roots of your plants access to moisture. Since cool weather hardens your soil, even when it rains or snows, most of that moisture never seeps through to the roots of your plants.

Ground covers help your soil retain moisture. In doing so, your plants continue to receive the hydration they need throughout the dry winter weather. Most lawn maintenance pros recommend using two to three inches of ground cover in your landscape beds. Over time ground cover can dry and shrink or decompose into the ground. This serves to reduce the thickness of your mulch or rock cover and can make it harder for your soil to retain moisture.

Since the thickness of your ground cover decreases over time, it's best to replenish it annually.

Protect your garden from the winter cold with our ground cover installation. Contact us today!

Don't let the cold weather catch you off guard this winter. Protect your garden by installing or replenishing your ground coverings ahead of time. At J&C Lawn Care, we are serious about protecting your lawn and landscape beds year-round. That's why we not only install new ground coverings, but we even replenish existing ground covers.

We offer our ground cover installation service to property owners in Gresham, Happy Valley, Troutdale, OR and the surrounding areas. Contact us today at (971) 284-2035 to schedule our ground cover service! We are standing by and ready to help you protect your landscape beds this winter.