I tried this in another forum but didn't get any takers so I thought I'd try here. I hit a couple of great sales and overbought and will not be able to plant everything this fall. I need to overwinter abt 20 - 25 perennials still in their nursery containers (hostas, rudbeckias, echinaceas, sages, astilbe, peonies and others).
Is there a fairly easy way to do this? My plan is to prepare a couple of beds over the winter (our ground doesn't freeze for long, I don't think) and then plant them in the spring.
I found an area I could dig in and have dug a huge hole in hopes that I can just plunk the pots in the hole, fill in between them and cover with lots of pine straw. My concern abt this strategy is that we have pretty wet winters. Would the wet pine straw on top of them be a problem? Maybe the pine straw isn't even necessary?
If it will be a big ordeal to overwinter these, I'll probably just take my chances. But if there are fairly easy measures to take that would probably save most of them, I'd like to give it a try.
how to overwinter in nursery containers
Firstyard, I have successfully overwintered potted plants that I didn't get a chance to plant. I did exactly like you described. I dug a hole, set them all in close to ground level and filled the cracks around them with dirt. You probably don't need the pine straw (I didn't), but if you do, just remove it before your wet spring hits.
Mipii, I am so glad to hear that it worked for you. You're in 6A and I'm in 7A so that reassures me as well.
I also had another idea I am wondering abt. I was thinking of lining them up against the foundation of the house (assuming it will be slightly warmer there) and packing pine straw around and on top of them. Due to the overhang of the eaves, the pine straw would not get wet when it rains.
Putting the pots in the ground is probably the better strategy but would this be a close second? If so, I assume I'd have to water them since they'd get no rain. How much watering would they need in the wintertime?
For future reference, I'm also wondering abt a 3rd idea. My house has a crawl space and I could put some plants there (tho it sure would be a hassle to water them). But do perennials need light during the winter? It is pitch black dark in there.
Lining them up around the foundation is a good second strategy for warmth. You'd only have to water them a couple of times, depending on the winter temps. The colder it gets, the less water is used by the plant and/or evaporated.
I would only use the third option if absolutely necessary, you'd want the plant to experience the elements and stay hardy and healthy. Not to mention the fact that they're too easily forgotten about down there.
I'm not sure how much light a dormant plant would need sunlight. I don't even know if they go into full dormancy in your zone, or what kind of plants you're trying to overwinter. These are all variables you'd have to consider/research.
It would be nice if another gardener from your zone chimed in with this experience.
Thanks again, Mipii.
I googled my question abt whether perennials need light during winter and found this excellent article on overwintering potted plants:
http://www.gardensalive.com/product/protecting-potted-plants-over-winter/you_bet_your_garden
I think I will not have to resort to using the crawl space which, as you pointed out, is an easily forgotten area. If all my pots won't fit into the hole I dug, I'll do #3 from the article.
Another point the article made was abt terra cotta pots freezing and cracking during the winter. Wouldn't you know I just hit a good sale and bought 3 large ones!
The Terra Cotta pots are great for plants that need sharp drainage though, for indoor or seasonal usage. For others, a nursery pot inside a clay pot make it more appealing to look at and sometimes the extra weight they provide is needed. They're something great to have around, a good investment.
I use nursery pots for most things. After spending the winter in ground they do get quite dirty. Thanks for the link, I'll read it today. Good luck!
I overwinter lots of plants, tender ones in the garage of course, but hardy ones outside, as long as they're in a plastic pot. I'm sure everyone's got a slightly different approach. At my place, I line them by the foundation as already mentioned. I'm too lazy to dig them in. I have several landscape timbers which I never got around to use - so I laid the timbers parallel to the foundation on the eastern exposure of the house and nestled the plants in the space created. They seem to survive OK that way. Once winter sets in, I've never felt the need to water until spring. But I'd look to be sure the new purchases aren't rootbound - if so, I'd repot before overwintering. And I'd also guard against winter wet/rot, especially if they get overwhelmed by sodden downed leaves.
I think I will try to overwinter a couple of plants that are annuals here and see what happens. I don't have many annuals but every year I buy a geranium and I always hate throwing it out.
When I was growing up (just a couple of miles from here), my mother had a geranium at our back door that lasted many years. She didn't do anything special, in fact, she pretty much ignored it. Must have been a micro-climate thing.
Anyway, I'm going to try to save my geranium along with a verbena that did very well this summer. Can't remember the name of the verbena but it's not the one that's perennial here. I have a very protected area against the east side of the house where I can put them. So I'll try it and see what happens.
Sounds good Firstyard.
Good point Wee about checking pots for rootbound plants before overwintering, just that alone could save them or do them in respectively.
Lots of great information ....thanks all!
Arfitz reminded me for those in growing zones 6a and lower, it's the freeze thaw cycle that does the most damage to plants.You'd want to insulate the plants from the extremes and temper the environment (the ground and mulch are standard insulators). I don't know if the same holds true for Georgia though. From what I was understanding, there's only a temporary freeze in Firstyard's zone.
Firstyard, I've done just as you described many times and had a lot of success. I've also planted next to the foundation under the eaves with some success as well. I don't think the crawl space is necessary unless you want to try something that is borderline hardy. It might get too warm and some things will start to grow and get long a over stretched. I've tried something similar in my attic which doesn't have insulation and not enough light for healthy growth.
A few other things to watch for...
1. If the winter is warm, plants near the foundation with an overhang can dry out too much.
2. Plants kept in the pots with soil a few inches below the rim can fill with water and freeze. There are some plants that will not do well encased in ice, depends what it is and the crown will rot. I try to fill the top with extra dirt to help that (remove extra in spring) or slit the sides so water drips out before freezing or I will pop the plants out of the pot for the winter and then pop them back in after spring thaw until I'm ready to place them. This is easy if you keep them close together in a row or block so you don't loose them.
A little temp info:
Our average low for the winter months is 30 to 33 and the average highs are 49 - 54.
Weatherspark shows that our temps are btw 15 and 31 degrees for 20% of the year. But I guess it's how that 20% is spread out that matters.
Days in the teens are few. Mid to high 20's are more frequent.
Weatherspark shows that our temps are btw 32 and 50 for 55% of the year.
BTW, I leave my calla lilies and cannas in the ground over the winter usually without extra mulch.
Loretta, regarding #2. I have come across 2 articles that recommend laying your pots sideways. I am going to try it bcs I do indeed have quite a few pots where there is an inch or more of space btw the dirt and the top of the pot.
And abt #1. I am confused abt watering. I've read everything from no watering to watering once a month. Our winters are wet. We get abt 5" of rain per month so if my plants were in the ground, they would certainly be getting watered, lol! I am leaning towards watering once a month or perhaps 6 wks.
Ah well, you live in Georgia so you can overwinter things I can't. Actually looking at your rainfall and temps, I don't think you have anything to worry about by just sinking the pots. You shouldn't even have to plant near the foundation for warmth. The plants you listed are tough ones.
As for planting on the side, I'm not too sure about that. It wouldn't protect the roots from a freeze which is why I would bury the pot to begin with and the plant would be hard to water. Since your temps can be in the 40's and 50's during winter, your plants could start growing so the crown would be buried. I've done OK with just filling the pot up with more soil once they die back and brushing it off when the weather breaks.
The ones that I would lay on their side would not be planted. They would be just sitting or laying by the foundation on the north side of the house. You can read the whole process in the link above tho I can't remember if that article is one of the ones that says to lay them sideways or not.
I agree with Loretta, if your pots are laying on their sides, they more than likely won't get watered when it rains.
I'm assuming I have to water them. Even if they were upright, they wouldn't get rainwater bcs of the eaves. I don't think it will be a problem to do it bcs I won't have that many.
Just went back and re-read the article. He gave watering (or not watering) instructions for options 1,2 and 4 but not option 3. So I still don't really know if I should water or not. But, unless something convinces me otherwise, I'm still leaning towards once or twice.
Just had an idea. I'm going to email my county extension agent and see what she says.
Haha, that's a good idea.
On option 3 which I've never tried, he is completely burying the plants on their sides by a foot with shredded leaves. Some might even be out of the pots or in plastic liners. So they are sort of planted. By me, those shredded leaves might blow away by the end of winter. I know of other people who are successful overwintering by packing up plants upright with leaves inside something like a burlap drape against the foundation but it hasn't worked for me. Maybe because I used my leaf pile instead of the foundation. I've never tried stockpiling them on their side the way this reads to me. It sounds like a little neater option. So you wouldn't water, hoping that the cover will keep them from drying out.
I would think the reason to put them on the side is so when the pot freezes and then the top melts or it rains, you don't have ice freezing the crown. But in option 3. I think it is just to protect the whole plant much the way a blanket of snow protects.
Which sage did you buy? That could be a sensitive one depending which one. Your hostas will probably survive without any help at all.
It is a russian sage "filigran". I actually got those 2 planted the other day. Should I do any
thing special for them over the winter?
No, that one is ok.
In my zone 7a, I've never needed to provide any winter protection to hardy perennials, such as hosta and echinacea, in nursery pots.
Only the perennials that are less than 2 zones hardy (zone 5a and above in my area) get any kind of winter protection.
The pots stay outside and get rained on or snowed on (or not). They never get watered.
The only one I lost last year was a hardy hibiscus that was rated zone 5a.