Q. I have a few small shrubs and perennials that I was unable to plant this season. What can I do?

A. There are a few options available to you.

First, as long as the ground is not frozen, I would go ahead and plant. The ground is the best insulator for plant roots. Make sure to water the plants in well after planting and wait for the ground to freeze to mulch.

Mulching after the ground freezes will help prevent “frost heaving” of the plants. This is when the shrub or perennial will literally pop out of the ground after a freeze-thaw cycle. Our heavy clay soils are the blame for this phenomenon – they expand and contract with differences in soil moisture and soil temperature.

If you are still uncertain where you want to permanently place the plants, you could heel them into a pile of soil or mulch during the winter months. The soil or mulch will also insulate the root system. Many landscapers use this method.

You could also bring the plants into an unheated garage or sunroom for the winter. You just need to keep the root system barely moist during the winter until you can plant in late March or early April. This method emulates the landscapers, who often overwinter plants in hoop houses covered with plastic.

The trick here for landscapers is to remove the plastic during warm weather in early spring – otherwise the plants could cook. The same goes for you: Plant as early as possible in the spring, and don’t let the plants heat up in the sunroom.

Keeping plants in a garage could interfere with access to the snow blower, which you might need this winter. The folks at the National Weather Service are predicting above-average temperatures and above-average precipitation this winter. A weather phenomenon known as La Niña is supposed to kick in around January. This could result in more snow, sleet or (gasp) ice events in early 2011.

Now might be a good time to prune your columnar arbor-vitae shrubs if they are taller than 7 feet. Make an angled cut of the central leader(s) of this plant, down to about 6 or 7 feet in height – just above another branch. Reducing the size of your columnar arbor-vitae could prevent them from splitting up during heavy snow or ice.

If you have soft maples such as silver maple or a large flowering pear, consider having a certified arborist drop by to thin out the trees this year. Thinning them will reduce the load on the trees, making them less susceptible to ice, snow and wind damage.

One can never predict the weather in our part of the Midwest.

We can, however, prepare for what our winter could offer.