After the first heavy frost, all the tops of the perennials should be cut off close to the ground, and the annuals gathered up and all of them burned. They have eggs of pests and spores of disease on them that you do not want in your garden next year, so destroy them.

Do not place any kind of winter covering on perennials until the ground has several inches of frost on it. Remember, it is not the cold you are trying to keep out by the winter covering; you are trying to prevent the freezing and thawing process that heaves the plants out of the ground.

The date of covering the plants may vary according to the season; sometimes it is not until the middle of December. When the ground is frozen, add light mulch. Never put on a heavy layer of leaves. You will smother more plants than you will save. Oak leaves are satisfactory or strawy manures. Evergreen boughs are useful. Be sure no heavy mulch is on the crowns of hollyhocks, delphiniums, Shasta daisies or pinks. These plants stay green at their crowns all winter and will rot if covered too deeply. Be sure there is drainage around each plant so that water does not cover the crown.

Salt hay: the light material that bananas are shipped in, makes an excellent covering for rock plants. Also use branches of evergreens if they can be had. After the holidays there are usually some Christmas trees that can be had for the hauling. Cut off the branches and lay them over the plants and they will give adequate protection for the balance of the winter.

Hydrangeas that are only hardy in the northern climate (the pink and blue ones) must have some kind of winter protection because they bloom from the old wood. Place a wire netting about the plant and fill with leaves. If the plant is small, put a bushel basket upside down over it, with straw or leaves around the stems.

It is objectionable to have to make winter coverings around the plants that are close to the dwelling. What is the use of having an evergreen that is to be wrapped and tied up in the cold weather? It is better to have deciduous plants. The only reason for evergreens in the northern region is to have something green when everything else is brown, and if they have to be wrapped in winter and so be an eyesore, they have lost their main purpose.

Rhododendrons, laurel and hemlocks do not like a wind-swept location. They should have other plants as protection or be near buildings. If they are not in the open, do not put boards or boxes over them. They are too unsightly. Place branches of cut evergreens between them. Soak the roots with water before the ground freezes. The reason their leaves curl in zero weather is because they cannot get moisture out of the frozen ground. Mulch will help heavy roots functioning. Be sure that there is a heavy depth of leaves over the ground around them.

There is no need to cover an established shrubbery bed with manure each fall. These plants are hardy and the only reason that fertilizer need be used is to enrich the soil. If the plants are healthy, add no mulch or fertilizer.

Hill up (mound) your rose beds with soil 9 inches high. Cut off the long whips or branches so that they do not let air into the lower regions.