Winter watering questions

This is my first season in a cooler zone so I have scads of beginner questions that will sound absurd to winter savvy gardeners. I am an experienced gardener- in the tropics(!), and let me tell you sometimes that experience does not translate to different climates.

I have recently installed trees and shrubs of many varieties. I keep reading that I should continue my watering through the winter and I don't know how this relates to air or soil temperatures.

Does it mean to keep watering only as long as the soil temps stay above freezing?
Or am I to keep watering regardless of the soil temps? In snow even?

Told you it would sound silly.
Somehow I keep getting a mental picture of me standing outside with water freezing as it exits the hose. Surely this is not how you do it!

No charge for the entertainment value of my post... chuckle away :)

In your zone, you water once a week deeply (count to 60 slowly on big bushes and trees, 30 quickly on perennials) up to Dec. 20th. Then, let it rest. Be sure you have mulched the plants, not letting the mulch touch the base of the plant (unless you are mounding soil or mulch for winter protection, like roses, which is removed in the spring). Some plants (like loropetalum or winter-hardy gardenias--'Chuck Hayes' or 'Kleim's Hardy' or new English box or any new plant which you think is tender) benefit from a 'fence' or skirt of burlap (not over the top though) for wind protection.

Thank you.

I have laid in a supply of burlap and stakes should I need to build wind screens or wrap anything. I have chicken wire for cages as well- to stuff with leaves.
I just don't know when to implement these precautions. I did put in some shrub roses (Graham Thomas).

I don't think I have anything inordinately delicate besides some Japanese Maples, but I have them in sheltered areas on the leeward side of either the house or large evergreens. I am more worried about the Rhododendrons as I am finding out that they can be delicate in getting established. I tried to choose things suitable for one zone cooler than mine for a bit of safety net.

On the other hand some of the plants are small but in those cases the vendors told me to go ahead and plant them and I guess they know best. The Redbuds and some native azaleas (Roseshell, Carolina) in particular are very small, but I guess they survive in nature and they have all put out new growth already.

Thank you for giving me a firm date.
It's a whole 'nother world up here!

You could spray the rhodos with anti-dessicant (Wilt-Pruf) to cut leaf moisture loss from the wind. I find rhodos fussy to grow anyway--good luck, sounds as though you are doing it all correctly. Put the burlap up now, beats doing it in the snow at 20 degrees! Can't hurt.

Rhodos will only grow in an acidic soil for starters, but all the shrubs you are talking about should be fine in your zone, even the roses, however, I would stop watering them now as you want the shrubs to get there roots down and not rely on watering in the cooler temps, especially cooler evenings, because if you get a really heavy frost that causes the soil to frees, the tender roots just under the soil surface could frees, so add a good thick mulch around the soil where the roots are, but dont pile it up the trunks, your Rhodos should already have next years flower buds and the Azaleas as each year after flowering, they start to form the next years flowering buds, so never prune them unless you want no flowers for a couple of years, these plants like a good mulch as they like a cool root system, they dont have deep roots like most shrubs, but also they dont like the roots out of the soil, as you just planted them and many other shrubs/roses, frost can lift them up in the soil, so just keep an eye out for them rising above the soil level, mulch all your new plants even the roses, but dont mulch into the stems of the roses or you may get rot or fungus start in the new buds come spring, they can take temps even lower than yours, should any buds or tender rose stems be dead come spring, just cut it off down to a new outer pointing new bud lower down, cut on a slant away from the bud or you may still get frost in spring or rain and that will damage the bud if water is allowed to sit on it. Rhodo's are quite hardy shrubs as they have an oil in their foliage that helps them withstand sun/rain and frost to a degree, but not so much that the frost freezes the roots, a bit of frost damage wont kill them and new growing shoots will break out from the stems in spring /summer, the best protection and help you can give your new plants is feed them come spring so they get good strong foliage and roots, same with your roses as healthy strong plants can tolerate a lot more weather conditions than we think. good luck, I have a feeling you will have a few sleepless nights worrying this winter, but you will soon get used to the new environment your garden has. Best wishes. WeeNel.

Actually, the ground does not freeze (at least in zones 6 and 7) until the end of December. You are supposed to water new bushes ONCE a week until that time to help the roots grow and get water to the rest of the plant before the really bad weather sets in.