weather and plants in pots

Dear all,

I bought 2 weeks ago enough box to do about 20m of garden edge. I ran out of time before getting the last 4m in. Now the weather has turned ugly. What is the best thing to do with them?

9cm pots with about 20cm growth.

I also have half dozen shrubs in 3L pots.

Can they be left out in the snow and 0degree temps and survive? Or do I leave them in my garage? Or bring them out in daylight and back at night? What about watering?

Thanks,

Bill

They are all hardy. Raise them up if you can onto bricks so that the water/snowmelt etc can drai through. Some where sheltered would help as well. This time of year shouldn't need extra water but if we have a winter drought like last year just keep feeling compost.  Don't let them sit in water

Right up against the house works well for shelter. I've never lost young box outside in the winter what are the other shrubs?

If the compost in the pots freezes it will not do the plants a lot of good-keep them on the dry side-they do not need watering if they are not actively growing and protect if this cold spell is prolonged

I have some larger pots that are half dug into the soil to help with frost proofing. Sorry forgot to say in previous post. Last year i did it with some perennials as well

you need to put your pots in the shed if they are not frost proof and they need to stand on feet.Water very little during winter and put out when frost has gone.Pots need good drainage ,if you leave good terracotta pots or others outside they need to be on feet with good drainage otherwise its cracked pots.

Many, many of our over 400 pots freeze solid year on year, and a very tiny number of the plants come to any harm.  Those which do are usually ones I was tempted by rather too late in the season and they have not grown strong enough roots to stand the bitter cold.  We have trees, shrubs, perennials etc in pots, also many lily bulbs which are currently frozen solid - and they will all do well and come up smiling in Spring or Summer depending on their type.  Over 70 hostas freeze regularly, it's the pots I have to be concerned about, not the plants.  WE have ebbn gardening here with the frosts for  16 years, and always with huge numbers of pots. Provided they are not too wet when they freeze - and even then as often as not - plants survive being frozen very well.  Remember winter 2010 -11? Temperatures down to -17 here in this garden, very little succumbed, a few things were cut hard back, even the potted clematis shrugged it all off.  Expect the best, ensure the plants are strong and healthy with very good root systems, and the huge majority will survive unscathed.  For the tiny number that don't, well, every dead plant is a new planting opportunity is it not?

Agree, we lost more plant pots than plants, except for bulbs. Even the ones wrapped up in fleece eventually died. But then we did get down to -22c last year.

Only time I've lost bulbs was when they were planted late and winter came almost immediately, hard and long. If the bulbs have time to get established they do OK. That's my experience (so far). 

Bulbs in pots where the pot froze solid. Only lose bulbs in the garden to mice!