Dwarf Evergreens in Winter

This past summer, I planted a couple dwarf evergreens- one is a Hinoki Cypress (I think the name was "Kosteri"), and the other is some kind of tiny, round pine. The Cypress is about a foot high, and the pine is about the size of a large grapefruit.

Should I be doing anything as far as covering them up for the winter? With burlap or something? Or, since they are sun trees, do they need to get the sun all year 'round? I'm a bit confused by that, as I've noticed a few people in town wrapping their trees. Also, since they are so small, they will get covered by snow, when it falls...do I need to keep making sure they are dug out, or is that ok for them?

I cant tell about the hardiness of trees and shrubs in your zone, however, it is roughly about the same as mine here in Scotland UK, the only exception is, I dont get deep ground freeze because I live by the sea and the salt air helps stop that, however, as your new plants are still quite tender and placed into there new home, maybe it would be a good idea to place some of the very fine horticultural fleece over these as it will still let light into the plants/foliage, rain water will still penetrate but it will just give a little extra frost protection on really freezing nights, you want your plants to toughen up to the elements in your zone and not fluctuate temps by bringing them in and out of the house etc. As with all evergreens, IF, you get a heavy snow fall and it sits on the evergreen plants foliage, it can snap off some branches, or, for tight shaped ones, it can cause them to droop and alter the whole shape, especially things that grow naturally pointed or pyramid/column shaped, what I would normally do is, take the broom or rake handle and gently tap off the heavy snow, a)so it dont freeze later on the foliage and, b) so it ain't too heavy for the plant to cope. Hope this helps a bit. WeeNel.

Thanks, WeeNel...I think I have some of those thin Frost blankets...gotta remember what I did with them after last Spring. So I would cover them and leave it on all Winter?

I am also right on the coast- maybe 1/2 mile from the ocean. It seems to me that the ground does freeze fairly solid here, though. I think my evergreens are probably in a fairly exposed location, so I was concerned about the winter winds.

I am even closer to the sea than you, in fact right on a cliff where the high tides mixed with high winds can strip the foliage or burn it in a few hours, but at least the soil Very, Very, rarely freezes. No, you dont need to keep your little blankets on all winter, say you had a nice cold but calm day, remove the blankets if you want for a few hours say at the warmest part of day, but do add a mulch around the root area of your shrubs, new trees etc so the frost cant penetrate deep into the ground and freeze the roots, the mulch might freeze, but the roots wont, as for the wind damage, it is one of the worst killers of all shrubs and trees both in your situation and mine, so your little blanket will help protect the foliage from this. you could wrap sacking around them, but personally, if you forget to remove it for a while, your plants will die off anyway from lack of some light, I am almost sure with the care you and I are talking about, you will be OK, it will be a case of check as often as possible to alter the care and protection as required, but try not to over do things or they will be too tender to acustom themselves to your conditions, hope things are safe, just add or decrease the protection as it is needed. best of luck. WeeNel.