Re: question about wintering over
Hello Gene,
This is a timely and oh, so important subject to me..
I am in the beginning stages of starting a Home Nursery(local sales only),so
you can see this is of critical concern to me..Its not that I havent
over-wintered container plants before but now with the investment of time and
money its critical to protect my inventory ..Your(and others) expertise is a
blessing for me.
Its cooling down here (a sign here in the far north that Fall is not too far
off)and with that my concern mounts as to how best to winter over my
(hardy)stock here in zone 5/6..(I have this sinking feeling this is 'gonna be a
long hard winter,hope I'm wrong)
My questions for you and others is:
How best to protect containered plant roots?
*Sinking the container to the rim in mulch (i.e. is sawdust better than
Cedar)?
*Or dig a pit(gallon pot deep) and then back fill with the above ?
*Cut foliage down, after die back or leave and do in spring?
(and anything else that I might have missed)
I'm so nervous I feel like a newbie to all this,which I'm not, but guess I just
need reassurance that I'm doing all I can..
With all the knowledge on this list,where technique abounds, one can always
improve on their own...
All suggestions welcome.(and yes I do have 2 smallish unheated greenhouses).
Thanks for any advise,instruction.
Connie
GeneBush wrote:
> Hello Isabelle & Marge,
> Everything I have in the way of plants around here for the nursery goes
> into open cold frames. Seedlings, gallons, seed trays for germination...
> everything. All rides with the local weather. Also I just happen to deal
> with nothing but hardy perennials. My frames are nothing more than railroad
> ties 4 feet apart in the seedling area, 2X8's in the display area. All are
> in trays and the trays are mulched all around and in between with cypress
> mulch... won't rot easily and it can be used again next year. There is a
> landscape mat beneath all for drainage and holding down the weeds.
> I loose less plants this way than I did when leasing a greenhouse. One
> of my selling points is my plants are in cycle with the seasons and do not
> have to be hardened off or babied. If it was going to die, I already did
> that for you. Funny, so many visitors to the nursery and gardens keep
> looking around as they walk through... I know what they are looking for.
> Eventually they get around to asking where I managed to hide the
> greenhouses. Don't have any......
> Gene Bush Southern Indiana Zone 6a Munchkin Nursery
> around the woods - around the world
> genebush@otherside.com http://www.munchkinnursery.com
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Marge Talt <mtalt@clark.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 1999 8:22 PM
> Subject: Re: question about wintering over
>
> > They might come through in a very cool, almost freezing basement - and
> yes,
> > you'd have to water just enough so they didn't dry out, but...and it's a
> > rather large one, some of these are evergreen or want to be and would
> > require good light over winter IMO...Carex is one and possibly your
> Phlomis
> > (depending on which one it is - P. fruticosa is evergreen for me). I have
> > also found that wintering hardy perennials in frost free conditions means
> > they will start growth in February (given that they have light) and you
> > have to provide really strong light and good air circulation until it's
> > warm enough to harden them off...also aphids love enclosed frost free
> > conditions, I have found. Personally think they would be better off
> > outside in a temporary holding bed/cold frame type situation...
> >
> > Can you construct a temporary frame near the house that you could fill
> with
> > sand or mulch and plunge your pots in? I have overwintered pots this way.
> > In fact, have made plastic 'A' frame type structures over sandbeds to
> > overwinter things - bit awkward getting in there to water, but it can be
> > done and would need to be done...or you could rig the plastic so it was
> > only down when it was really bitter and freezing. It basically serves to
> > keep snow out and keep them from icing up so badly that the ice doesn't
> > melt in the pots and kills the plants at first thaw.
> >
> > Did a couple of articles last Nov. about building temporary frames and
> > wintering plants in pots - might be of use to you, tho' you are much
> > farther north than I. FWIW, URL to first one is:
> >
> > http://suite101.com/article.cfm/222/12377
> >
> > Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
> > mtalt@clark.net
> > Editor: Gardening in Shade
> > current article:Vines - Part 1
> > http://suite101.com/welcome.cfm/222
> > All garden topics welcome page:
> > http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/3425#top5
> >
> > ----------
> > > From: Isabelle Hayes <bhayes@catskill.net>
> > > Date: Monday, August 09, 1999 12:38 PM
> > >
> > > Greetings:
> > >
> > > I live in NYS, zone 5, about 100 miles northeast of NYC;
> > >
> > > as you all probably know, we are in the midst of a very dry summer,
> after
> > a
> > > dry spring, and a dry winter;
> > >
> > > I grew the following from seed this spring: heuchera, poa grass, carex
> > > grass, mallow, jasione, phlomis, potentilla, and more;
> > >
> > > I have been keeping the plants in containers on the porch, so it's
> easier
> > to
> > > keep them watered;
> > >
> > > I've been waiting (in vain) for there to be enough wet weather to risk
> > > putting them into the ground in beds where it's hard to get water to
> them
> > if
> > > it doesn't rain regularly;
> > >
> > > it now occurs to me that there may not be enough rain before the ground
> > > freezes, and I'll either have to risk putting the plants in anyway, or
> > >
> > > maybe I could keep them inside in pots over the winter, somehow.
> > >
> > > I have a basement where they wouldn't freeze, but there isn't much light
> > > down there;
> > >
> > > does anyone know how to do this? They would still need watering
> wouldn't
> > they?
> > >
> > > TIA
> > >
> > > Isabelle Hayes
>
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