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Overwintering Plants in the Nursery.
Just curious on how other growers overwinter their plants. We live in a very challenging climate. Almost 5000 feet elevation annual precip is around 12-15 inches. Our winters can be snowy or lately not so much. Not uncommon to see temperatures of -20 without snow cover. We have already had -12 this month.
So what do we do to protect our perennials, shrubs and trees to make sure they get through to the next growing season?
Last winter we left almost all of our gallon pots out and figured they would be just fine under a snow bank on the North side of a 6 ft fence. We lost almost all of them (98%). It was a very costly mistake that I wouldn't like to repeat.
So what do we do to protect our perennials, shrubs and trees to make sure they get through to the next growing season?
Last winter we left almost all of our gallon pots out and figured they would be just fine under a snow bank on the North side of a 6 ft fence. We lost almost all of them (98%). It was a very costly mistake that I wouldn't like to repeat.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sandy Jones on -
We are up in the mountains at 7500'. Putting the plants away for the winter is a major undertaking. We first cut everything back hard and then move all the pots to a low area on the property. (This area just happens to be surrounded by large B&B spruce trees.) We pack the pots in tightly, place rodent bait liberally throughout, cover the entire lot of them with landscape fabric, and dump wood chips on top to a depth of about 4-6". We have used this method for many years with pretty good success. We try to watch the weather in the spring and get the plants uncovered before it gets too warm, otherwise we get mold and rot. The biggest problem is the spring thaw/freeze cycle. That's when most of our loses occur.
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