Re: question about wintering over/ Connie
Hello Connie,
Your message came through first, but I answered yours last so you could
read the other two and then yours. Answers some of your questions or perhaps
one you would ask later.
Question of material used for mulching. Largely a matter of personal
preference. I use cypress because it does not decompose and can be used
repeatedly. Also when I pick up a pot to place in a tray for a customer, the
pot comes out mostly clean. Sawdust (much cheaper than cypress) sticks to
the pots making a mess in peoples cars.
My frames are constructed of 2 X 8 X 8 treated timbers in connected
lengths 48 feet long and 4 feet wide. Each joint has a cross piece for
support and divider. I also use trays holding 8 pots to the tray (#202 pots)
for best utilization of space. That gives you 16 pots across the 4 foot
space, about 12 inches wide.
Pots will just come to the top of the 8 inch timbers. Landscape mat in
on the ground, trays on the Matt, mulch filled in between and around the
pots and up to the rim of the timbers. I want the pots to go with the
temperature of the ground, not the air temperature.
I would not dig pits and place plants in the pit. I would imagine water
would collect and you would have a lot of soggy dead rotted plants come
spring.
Foliage that is dead or dying due to dormancy is cut back and discarded
each fall. Cleanliness is next to godliness... and helps to keep the nasty
bugs away next spring. Evergreen may be cut back a bit or left alone
depending upon the plant.
Come visit and we can walk around and you can ask all the questions you
like.
Gene Bush Southern Indiana Zone 6a Munchkin Nursery
around the woods - around the world
genebush@otherside.com http://www.munchkinnursery.com
----- Original Message -----
From: connie Hoy <coneh@uswest.net>
Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 1999 12:53 PM
Subject: 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
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