I have lots of seedlings and small plants that need moved but I don't have the garden ready yet. I would like to pot them up so I would be able to trade them or plant them in the new part of the garden in early spring. I have a hoop house made outside next to the greenhouse. The HH won't be heated. What do I need to do? Should I mulch them to the top of the pot or what? I have never tried to do this before outside.
Storing potted perennials
I had luck last year with burying the pots to the brim and mulching. You can pull the pots out in the spring to plant them when your beds are ready. I'll be doing the same thing this year with my shrub seedlings that are still small. Good luck!
Joanne
Did you just set them out in the outside or did you use some kind of shelter for them. I have a small hoophouse I thought about putting it on the south side of the GH and storing the perennials in it with or without a clear cover, I have a tarp on it now until the little guys get over transplant shock and start doing something. I don't want them all to get sunburned and die. I have some Beautyberry bushes that were started seeds about early to mid August and they won't survive this winter outside. I was thinking about putting them in a hoophouse with a clear cover.
I just kept them uncovered outside to fend for themselves. They were all winter sown so they seemed to be tough little buggers. I also have beautyberry seedlings that are still tiny. I plan to do my usual burying and mulching and just keep my fingers crossed. I was pleasantly surprised how well seedlings overwintered for me last year.
Joanne
That is encouraging to know. I was concerned my Beautyberry seedlings may not make it. I have butterfly bush cuttings that I received last week and I was wondering if I could leave them out in a pot also. I received 3 vitex? bush cuttings that are in small pots, I plan to leave them out till spring. I guess I will give it a try and hope I don't lose a bunch of stuff. Thanks for the info.
You are in a colder zone than I am I think, so if you can leave them out I should be able to also. Pray for a mild winter.
Dylan, I put my pots up against the wall of the house, and gradually cover them with chopped up leaves, straw, whatever I have, to about a foot deep at least. In the spring, take the mulch off bit by bit, not all in one day, and don't pull the mulch off too early. C
You don't "plant" your pots? Right now I have them buried in a big pile of mulch and the leaves should fall down and cover them completely. When the leaves come off they will have some sun but not a tremendous amount.
Because the leaves I use are chopped, they are very thick around the pots, almost like compost. The back of the house gets morning sun in the winter. That's all I do until spring.
I don't "plant" my pots either. I make a semi-circle of bagged leaves and pine needles and put the plants in the middle. The compost bin is the other semi "wall" of the circle. I dump more leaves on the whole thing after everything is frozen.
The idea of "planting" is to protect the rootball from any sun and avoid freeze/thaw cycles. As long as my pots don't see the light of day, its as if they are in the ground with snow on them. My success rate is about 90%, although I have to say, I've never tried seedlings.
For plants that I am more concerned about drainage, I keep those in the unheated garage with styrofoam peanut insulation. Water lightly once or twice. Similar 90% success rate.
Thanks for that info. Great ideas.
So if I do the semi circle should it be against the east or west wall? South is not an option, that's where the dog yard is and they would last about 5 mins there.
I routinely overwinter hundreds of plants in pots every winter in various holding beds (similar to the good techniques described by others in this thread). I always experience some casualities among the marginally hardy but in general I have a good success rate. However, I have never had any luck with pottted grasses or butterfily bushes . This year I am going to try an experiment. I don't have an unheated garage, basement or cold frame but I do have an 'escape' window in our basement that has a 4 foot window well. I will put my pots of grasses (miscanthus 'morning light', fargesia rufa, miscanthus 'yaku', lizula 'ruby stilletto' ) in that window well, place a clear window well cover on top of the opening and see what happens next spring.
Winter update: So far, so good. Plants are still doing well (0ther plants I added in the window well with the grasses are several pots of black mondo grass and one polianthus tuberosa 'the pearl'.) I watered them for the second time since they were put in the window well. Nothing has gone dormant, everything including the polianthus is still showing some green. The experiment continues!
This message was edited Jan 12, 2008 6:09 AM
Sounds like a good idea, but I'd want to make sure there's some way to ventilate the cover.
I've had Calimagrostis "Overdam" (smaller version of Karl Foerster) in a pot on my balcony for about four years. It comes back every spring. One year I managed to let it dry out over the winter, and it came back sparsly. But it did come back. It's trying to grow again and now is up to what a second year plant would look like. First year was a small plant in a 3" pot. I'm expecting a much bigger plant next year.
I love the grasses! I grow annual grasses every year too.
Frahn -Let us know how this works out as I am trying to overwinter my grasses outside covered.
Good luck
Elaine
Elaine, exactly how are you covering them? Inquiring minds want to know. If they survive I definitely want to copy your method next winter. I will keep you posted on the results of my experiment.
Felisa
frahn - I have read that you should never cut them back in the fall. I just cover with a good layer of mulched leaves, mostly birch/maple leaves and some straw. Time will tell. Have to at least try to give it a nice warm bed for the winter.
Elaine
With most perennial grasses (in zone 5 and similar climates) you should enjoy the structure they give to the winter garden and wait until late winter to cut them back. If you wait until spring the new growing tip may be damaged and look brown when the grass re-appears. The tip emerges fairly early from a shaft in the base. Use a sharp clipper and give the plant a crew cut about February.
This is a good time to decide if your grass needs divided. After clipping it short, does it look like a donut with growth around the outside rim but a "hole" in the center? If so then it is time to dig up the whole plant and divide the rim into separate chunks. Re-plant the chunks and discard the center.
Enjoy your grasses. They are wonderful plants!! MW
mw - I watched a program(our local newscast) that said that plants such as ornamental grasses and sedum should not be cut back in the fall. They said that these were to be left alone. It sounds like you know what you are talking about and you are in the same zone as me. No wonder people get confused! Thanks for thevery helpful info!
Elaine