How to protect tender plants over winter

in Home : Projects: The basics

You will need

  • Secateurs
  • Bamboo canes
  • String
  • Horticultural fleece or bubble polythene
  • Straw
  • Chicken wire
  • Large flower pot or crate
  • Bark chippings
Do it: mid-October - early December
Takes just: 20 minutes per plant

Project categories

Overview

Protect you plants from the cold weather and wrap half-hardy bananas, palms, cannas and ginger lilies in fleece and straw if they grow in sheltered positions. Alternatively lift the plants, pot or crate them up and bring into a frost-free greenhouse or conservatory to plant outdoors again next season.

How to do it

Tying palm leaves together to protect crown

1Protect palms by tying in the leaves to protect the growing point. In cold regions this can be loosely packed with straw for extra insulation.

Protective tent of fleece around palm

2Push bamboo canes into the ground around the plant to be protected, and cover with horticultural fleece or bubble polythene to create a protective tent. Use string to secure it to the canes.

Strawing around stem of banana plant

3Protect the stems of banana plants with straw, packed loosely into a sleeve of chicken wire placed around the plant. Cover the top with polythene in wet weather to keep the straw dry.

Packing canna rhizomes into crate

4In all but the mildest locations, cut back the stems of cannas and ginger lilies and lift the rhizomes from the soil. Set them in large pots or crates and pack round the roots with chipped bark. Store in a frost-free shed over winter.

Adam's tip

In the north and east of the UK you may need to protect your plants from late-October, while in the south and west, it won't be necessary until mid-November.

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