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Helping plants through Winter

BerkleyBerkley Posts: 431

I have a large number of plants in containers in the garden and intend to bring them in to the garage for the Winter. But I can't find any advice on whether (and if so, how often) I should water them. Can anyone tell me how I should look after the following:

hostas

hydrangea

agapanthus

acer

yucca

azalia

phormium

geranium maderense

 

Help much appreciated!

Posts

  • kate1123kate1123 Posts: 2,815

    I would not put hardy plants into the garage either. Last year I was advised to bubble wrap the pots of my hardy plants to protect the root balls freezing and this worked well for me.

  • Unless they forecast another really cold & wet winter I wouldn't need bring these plants inside.  As already said, move to a sheltered area.  If possible lift the pots off the ground using something like pot feet to ensure that they can drain freely.

  • Absolutely agree - plants need light and good circulation of air, even in the winter.  Otherwise they will get all sorts of moulds and rot away.  These are all relatively hardly plants - move them to a bright but sheltered spot , and lift the pots and put them on bricks or something so they're not on the ground and can drain well, then wrap the pots with bubble wrap to stop the root balls freezing. They probably won't need watering unless we get a prolonged dry spell.  The worst thing for  most plants is cold and wet, they can usually cope with cold and dry-ish, within reason.

    I wouldn't water the agapanthus at all over the winter - mine will have its pot bubble-wrapped and it will be in a sheltered corner of the terrace.


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,064

    It depends on how cold you expect to get.  We have severe winters with regular dips to -20C and well below on occasion so I move all my pots into the barn or the greenhouse.. I wait till their foliage has died down, clear it away and then just trundle them all in when dormant.  No watering. 

    I've never lost a hosta but last winter, which wasn't the worst by a long chalk, I lost all my agapanthus and an acer because, after an early warm spell, we had heavy frosts just after they'd started growing again and been watered and fed.  This year several hostas were turfed out into the garden and the pots planted up with annuals and pelargonius which will die anyway and go to the great compost heap - thus reducing the need for pot stashing.

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • figratfigrat Posts: 1,619
    Agree with all of the above - plants in containers are more prone to winter damage than those of the same species planted in the ground, but as the majority of yours are hardy, I'd do as Kate and DFA suggest, maybe bubble wrap the pots if it looks as though it's going to be grim and raise them off the ground a touch.
  • I bubble wrapped around each pot in my plastic green houses last year, rather than the greenhouse itself. They would have survived and  all did very well, until the slugs got them and destroyed the lot! I was heart broken. The large pots I cannot move I actually put hay in the last 2 years. They got very soggy, but seems to have helped the plants and climbers survive. We do ge tvery  cold and very wet here.

  • BerkleyBerkley Posts: 431

    Thank you everyone who offered advice. It has been most helpful. I'm goint to wrap pots in fleece as suggested and leave in a sheltered spot outside. (except the geranium maderense. It is still only a small plant and didn't flower this year, so I might give it extra protection in the garage). As we live in Dorset, our Winter should be mikder than lots of other places......

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