Talkback: Winter snow and tender plants - Talkback

29/11/2010 at 17:29

Even though we have no snow here yet in south London the frost has got my nictonias,rudbeckias & alot of other stuff which i grew this year from seed. is my dahlia alright to be left in the ground or should i lift it? what about gladolis?

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29/11/2010 at 19:11

The first night of the big freeze in Bristol I was woken up by the cold. When it dawned on me why I was awake at 4.30 I sprang out of bed and dashed to the conservatory to put on the heater which is a thermostatically controlled greenhouse heater and usually is not needed till after Xmas. Only then did I put on my fleecy dressing gown and snuggle up in it back in bed. My conservatory is packed with tender plants so I was able to go back to sleep happy I had saved them.

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30/11/2010 at 02:11

the ground has frozen solid! i have been trying to do some weeding round the onions but it is no good, and as for using the hoe its just not working t(the ground is like concrete). i think i will have to leave it till the weather warms up.

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30/11/2010 at 12:09

Yep i agree with the last comment made here !!

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30/11/2010 at 18:02

clematis, I left my dahlias in the ground last winter, it got down to -8c and they came up again the following summer. I cut them right back, cover them with a polythene bin liner and mulch with old compost. I understand that it's the wet that can kill them (rotting tubers). I can't guarantee it will work every winter though, especially this one!

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01/12/2010 at 18:00

I have some cyclamen in a pot that are looking poorly in the frost/snow/sleet is there any hope for them? Also same question for pansies?!

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02/12/2010 at 10:02

Cyclamen hederifolium sp.should be fine although some of the varieties are not so tough. Winter pansies came through last winter's snow in my garden in Bristol and gave an amazing show of flowers right till last week! They may look a bit limp but will soon perk up when the weather eases up. Cyclamen do not like to be wet so make sure the pot has good drainage.

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02/12/2010 at 19:40

I bought a rose which was due for planting just as the bad weather arrived and the ground froze. With no let up in sight, I decided today that something would have to be done with the rose. I am housebound, so could only use what was in the house - no containers or bags of compost. Half a bag of bulb fibre - no good, no nutrients. A bag of houseplant compost, full of good stuff, and another of compost meant for geraniums. A container? The mop bucket. No drainage, but room to spread the roots. So there my rose sits, in the mop bucket, its roots covered with geranium compost. Will it survive? What do you think, Adam?

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02/12/2010 at 20:08

I can't get into my greenhouse, the door is frozen shut.ventilation will have to wait1

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02/12/2010 at 21:38

Reply to moondaisy: I assume this is a dormant, bare-rooted rose bush, in which case you have done the right thing covering the roots with damp compost. The rose will not be growing now (obviously) but you don't want to let the roots get dry and dehydrated. Keep your bucket and rose in a cool position – it won't need light. Then aim to plant out as soon as conditions improve in a week or two.

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02/12/2010 at 22:55

Well living in Surrey no fun at the moment,where I live on a very steep hill and no gritting done by the Council I won't be going anywhere, luckily I stocked up on bird food so the dear little mites won't go hungerey and funny enough they peck the snow so I suppose they get a drink that way and I have seen them fluffing their feathers up in the snow as well. All the winter planters that I bothered to plant up are now large white mounds, roll on spring.

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03/12/2010 at 08:57

What worries me after about 7 to 8 inches of snow and those low temperatures is that my cotinus and tree paeonies had not even shed their leaves yet, and I am wondering how this early winter is going to affect them. I hate to admit it but I was unprepared and many of the edge of hardy plants were left out. In Dover we rarely get such devastating temperatures. Learned my lesson too late.

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03/12/2010 at 10:03

Thanks for your reply, Adam. Yes it's a bare root plant, bought mail order, still in its original packaging. The suppliers' notes said it would be ok like that for a while, but it had now reached the point where it needed to be planted or heeled in. I had been wondering about the heat-and-light thing, because obviously we are keeping the house as warm as possible with the sub zero temperatures outside. I have now moved the bucket to the only cool corner in the house, where there is very little light, so thanks for that advice. Fingers crossed!

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03/12/2010 at 11:57

I have found through the years that "edge of hardy" plants will come through if they have very good root systems, woodsmoke, so do not fear the worst just yet, and do not be too hasty to pull things up as very often, although most of the plant has died off, a late shoot will grow from which you can take cuttings

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03/12/2010 at 20:27

Hi, my plants are covered in 3 inches of snow, should i remove the snow or leave it as i heard that it may give some protection to the plant underneath? the ground is frozen.

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04/12/2010 at 20:15

London: My bare root climbing rose has been in a bucket of compost for over a week now, just as the snow (London) began, outside against the west wall of the house., No snow this tiny area but the garden , east/north facing, snowy and cold. Snow now (late 4/12) clearing,,but frost ice now forecast. The bed got ready for it is all new soil, compost, pine chips, and has been covered with a tarpaulin. How long can I keep the rose as it is. Plant or not plant? Thank you.

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04/12/2010 at 22:54

Greenhouse thawed out put up Christmas lights this afternoon looks good.

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06/12/2010 at 21:37

will my bare root roses that i bought about two weeks ago survive the extreme cold heeled in?

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10/01/2011 at 18:54

I have my fingers crossed that the 4 bare rooted fruit trees that arrived just before the first fall of snow will survive. I kept them in the coolest part of the house but still in their bags as I could not get out into cold greenhouse. I have now put them in pots and am now hoping that they will recover come the spring. A couple will need to be re-potted as they are in rather small pots when the warmer weather arrives.

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21/01/2011 at 12:56

Is Monty Don going to begin by apologising for telling us to buy Mediterranean style plants? He told us they would survive in the ‘Hot’ and ‘Dry’ climate he told us we now have. We hope he will be talking about gardening like Toby did rather than all the theorising about our changing climatic environment. Sometimes it’s hot and sometimes in cold, sometimes it’s wet and sometimes its dry that’s how it’s been during the last seventy years – my life time.