There are a lot of different ways to protect the plants that you are growing for the winter months. There are a few things that you need to understand about protecting plants for winter.
1. You don’t need a greenhouse. You should be growing plants that are hardy in your growing climate, therefore they will be tough enough to make it through the winter just fine.
2. Greenhouses are for growing plants and they are completely unnecessary for you Growing Plants from Home for Profit. Greenhouses are not for storing plants over the winter months. Read that again. You Do Not Need a Greenhouse!
There’s a big difference between a greenhouse and an overwintering hoop house. A greenhouse usually has a double layer of clear plastic with air blown between the two layers for insulation as well as a heat source and built-in and automated ventilation to main a constant temperature conducive to good plant growth. A greenhouse is designed to make plants actively and vigorously grow during the winter months.
An overwintering hoop house has a single layer of white plastic, no heat or ventilation at all. An overwintering hoop house is designed to stay cold inside.
3. Hardy plants must be allowed to go dormant for the winter. You cannot drag them inside and keep them warm all winter. That would the same as me keeping you awake for four months straight. Plants need to sleep during the winter, winter is their resting period.
4. Here in the north nurseries cover plants not to keep them from freezing, they still freeze even when covered. They cover them to keep the wind off of them and to keep them moist. Plants need moisture and during the winter when you can’t be out there watering because all of your outside water is turned off for the winter, the last thing you need is the wind pounding on the potted plants sucking the moisture out of the potting soil.
White Plastic, not Clear!
5. When covering plants for the winter you have to cover them with white plastic because the white plastic reflects the rays of the sun and keeps the plants under the plastic at a uniform temperature. They might be frozen as hard as a rock under the plastic, and that’s fine, they don’t mind, really they don’t. What they don’t like is to thaw out on a warm day, the freeze again that night and have that cycle repeating all winter. The constant freezing and thawing is not good for plants.
6. Clear plastic is used on a greenhouse where you want the sun to warm up the greenhouse. However, without a heating system in the greenhouse as soon as the sun goes down things can freeze. That’s why you never use clear for overwintering plants. It heats them up during the day, tricking them into thinking it’s spring, then it allows them to freeze at night, causing them serious damage.
7. White plastic is hard to find. Hardware stores and home improvement stores don’t carry it. You have to get it from a nursery supply house. Or . . . you can use clear then once the plants are covered slosh white latex paint over the clear plastic. This isn’t the perfect solution, but it does work.
Itty bitty Rooted Cuttings are Amazing Creatures and Tough as Nails.
At the top of this page, I inserted a photo of Gold Drop Potentilla with a question mark. I always use Potentilla as an example of a plant that seems so frail and so tender, yet come winter they are amazingly tough, even as little tiny, spindly rooted cuttings. During the winter months, I see them in propagation boxes, no leaves, skinny as skinny can be and I wonder how they can possibly survive temperatures well below freezing, often down in the single digits.
Step by Step Mini Hoop House House Plans Below.
Then come spring as I am walking by the propagation area I can’t help but notice them, covered with little tiny green buds just busting at the seams to open and I wonder . . . how is it possible that something so frail can be so tough. I don’t know why all I know is that all of my rooted cuttings respond the same way. Come winter then just hunker down and wait it out. They know they have a job to do and they do it.
So what about you and I? What is our job for the winter?
Our job is to not interfere with what the plants already know how to do. They know how to survive the winter. It’s when we interfere, that’s when it all goes wrong. How do we interfere? We put plants in pots. That’s an interference. It’s not natural, it’s not normal for them. So our only job is to compensate for the situation that we created with some simple steps that I am going to describe and illustrate for you here.
What about the plants in the ground? How do I protect them for the winter?
In most cases, you don’t have to protect plants in the ground. Most of the time, plants in the ground are safe. It’s a natural environment for them. That’s how they are wired, to survive the winter simply by being planted in the ground where they are supposed to be.
So why are plants in pots so different?
Great question! Plants in pots are not in the ground. They are above ground. They are potted in a growing medium that is designed to drain well and drain fast. That’s perfect for the growing season, but not so great for the overwintering season. When we put plants in pots we do two things to them that is not natural. We put them in a well-drained potting mix, then we set them on top of the ground and let the wind pound on the thin plastic containers. We let the sun warm them during the day dehydrating them. The only thing between their precious roots and the harsh elements is a thin piece of plastic. We prevent their roots from reaching out into the soil where they can pick up the moisture they need.
We Rob them of the Natural Warmth of the Ground!
Do Not underestimate the warmth of the earth. Think about an igloo, made of snow, yet much warmer than the outside air. Ground heat is precious to a plant grower, use it to your advantage and never do anything to separate your plants from the precious earth.
Things you should never do with plants over the winter.
1. Do not put them up on pallets. That separates them from the ground where they are the most comfortable and allows cold dry air to completely surround the pot or root ball.
2. Do not bring them in where it is artificially warm. They need to go dormant, and they need to stay dormant.
3. Do not put them in your garage. They are not a lawnmower. Garages are really, really cold, and dry. That’s the worst combination of all. Plants need to be moist over the winter. Not soaking wet, just adequately moist.
4. Do not put them in your tool shed. Same thing. Many tool sheds have raised floors allowing bitter cold air under the shed. They are dry places. Good for tools and power equipment, not so good for plants.
The lower the hoop house the better for the plants.
If you’ve paid any attention to what most nurseries do for the winter this advice seems to be contradictory. But it’s not. They know the advantages of building low structures for overwintering plants and it’s not always necessary, and for those big growers, it’s not always practical. But if you really look around their nurseries, you are likely to find a low hoop house like we are building here. Not many, but they do use them for special situations.
Why lower hoop houses are better.
Low hoop houses are close to the ground and we already discussed the advantages of ground heat. They have much less dead air space between the top of the plants and the inside top of the hoop house. That means higher humidity and a much lower need for you to water over the winter. However, it certainly won’t hurt for you to poke a hole in the plastic and spray the garden hose around inside of your hoop house once a month or so. If things are frozen and you can’t water, then you can’t and chances are your plants will be fine. Just make sure they are plenty moist and or snow-covered when you cover them trapping in all of that moisture.
Did you catch that? Snow-covered. Snow won’t hurt your plants and most cases it’s good for them. It’s plenty moist and snow is a great insulator. Did you know that when the ground is frozen then a heavy layer of snowfalls, the ground will actually thaw under the snow because the snow actually keeps the ground protected from the harsh cold from above and the natural ground heat from below thaws the frozen soil?
That’s an important lesson to grasp because you can use that information to your advantage as a grower.
Do Not Cover Your Plants Until they are Dormant!
I mentioned covering your plants when they are snow-covered. Often times it will snow before you have a hard freeze. Plants need that hard freeze where the temperatures dip below freezing for several hours in order to trigger them into dormancy. You can have snowfall, but still not enough of hard freeze to trigger dormancy. This year here in northern Ohio is a perfect example. It’s November 7th, we’ve had a bit of snow, a few days ago it got cold enough to freeze the top layer of water in the donkeys’ water bucket, but it still didn’t get quite cold enough to knock the leaves off the trees. I am patiently waiting for that to happen so I can start digging Japanese maples.
Why do big growers use such large and high hoop houses if lower houses are better?
Another great question, you are really on your game today!
Big growers are big growers and they do things in big ways. They like really wide hoop houses that hold lots and lots of plants. And they like to maximize every square inch of space they use. Narrower hoop houses mean more driving isles between the hoop houses and that’s a lot of wasted space. So they make the houses really wide, up to 40′ wide. That means in order for the structure to hold up to a snow load it has to be much higher in the center in order to have the support that it needs.
Snow load can and will collapse a hoop house. You have to know that. Take a peek at this ugly site!
Big growers leave their hoop houses up year-round, they just cover them with white plastic for the winter and uncover them in the spring. Big growers like high wide hoop houses because they can walk through them and even drive tractors through them. Keep in mind, being that the structures are up year-round they work inside of these hoop houses daily.
What are the downsides to a wide, high hoop house?
A high hoop house unless professionally designed is more like to collapse from a snow load. High hoop houses have a ton of dead air space between the plants and the inside top of the hoop house. That makes it really difficult to maintain a high enough level of humidity. Because of that, big growers have to water inside of those big houses about every three weeks.
Now think about that.
We already learned that plants inside of a hoop house do freeze and are often frozen most of the winter. So that means that the irrigation inside of the hoop houses has to be winterized. Then every three weeks when they need to water the lines have to be reconnected and charged with water, then disconnected and drained again. That’s a ton of time-consuming work every three weeks and it also means that the water lines going to those houses have to be buried at least 48″ deep. That’s the standard for water lines in northern states. In other words, those houses have to be engineered with all of this in mind.
Open the doors, close the doors. Open the doors, close the doors.
On warm days large hoop houses have to be opened up on both ends to keep the heat from building up and tricking the plants into thinking it’s spring. We have a large grower right down the road here who has about 2,000 large hoop houses. The manager told me that on a warm day they send out a crew of ten people to open all the doors on both ends of the houses and it takes those ten people almost half a day just to get them opened up. Then if it’s going to get cold that night, they have to close them again.
And of course, all of this opening and closing is letting the moist air out and the dry air in increasing the need to run the water.
Do Mini Hoop Houses have to be watered over the winter?
Not really. In most cases, if you make sure the plants are plenty moist the day you cover them they should be fine for the entire winter. Huge advantage. Like I mentioned above, if you get the chance take out a little insurance and spray some water inside to make sure, but if you can’t, chance are the plants will be moist enough.
Okay, let’s build a Mini Hoop House!
The mini hoops that you see Duston and me putting in place here is actually concrete reinforcing mesh normally used in concrete driveways and sidewalks to strengthen the concrete. The bed that we are covering is 44″ wide, we cut the concrete mesh into 7′ long pieces. The plastic that we will roll over the top is 10′ wide leaving about 18″ on each side so we can weight down the plastic with sand or soil on both sides and both ends.
Look closely and see where we cut the hoops. We cut right in the middle of a square, that leaves short little legs that we can press into the ground on each side of the bed to keep the hoop from popping outward.
As we walk these hoops into place we overlap them just a few inches.
The plastic is 10′ wide so we roll it over the mini house long ways, leaving enough overhanging the end so we can weight it down to hold it in place. The plastic that we have in this photo is clear, therefore it has to be painted with white latex paint as soon as the house is covered and weighted down.
Once we have the plastic rolled out from end to end over the mini hoop house we open it up and pull it to the ground making sure that we have about 18″ of extra plastic all the way around. From here follow these simple steps.
1. Open up the plastic and weight it down with sand or soil. You cannot use bricks, blocks or lumber to hold the plastic down, it just won’t work. The wind will pull the plastic loose and once the plastic is loose it will start flapping and eventually tear or come loose exposing your plants to the elements.
2. Make sure the plastic is very taught so it cannot be moved by the wind. As you pour on the sand or soil be sure to pull the plastic nice and tight and weight down the plastic all the way along the edges. Do not leave any spots along the edge where there is no sand. I prefer sand because it won’t get muddy and come spring it can be spread out and pretty much disappear whereas soil could be muddy and create a weed situation.
3. If you’ve used clear plastic you must immediately slosh on some white latex paint so the rays of the sun bounce off the plastic. You can buy 10′ wide white plastic at a nursery supply house.
4. If you have an opportunity over the winter when your garden hose is not frozen, just poke a small hole in the plastic and spray some water around in the house. All it can do is help. If you can’t water inside, with a low structure like this you are probably fine.
If you have taller plants to cover you can still use these mini hoops, just water the plants really, really well, then lay them over on their side. The first row you might want to prop up with something so they are not laying in the soil all winter. Maybe a bale of straw. The rest will lay on each other, then cover as we did here.
This photo shows how we cut in the middle of the square to get little legs to stick in the ground. You really need a small pair of bolt cutters to cut the wire mesh.
These Lavender Twist Redbud trees are too big to cover with a mini hoop house so I moved them to the southeast side of my potting soil pile, dug out a small area for them, protected from the wind by the potting soil pile, then I packed potting soil around the pots and a little over the pots. They should be quite happy there for the winter. This will keep the roots from drying out.
Same for these Canadian hemlocks. We moved them to a protected area, they were just going to pack some leaves around the root balls, but I changed my mind about that. The burlap on these trees is regular, untreated burlap and by spring the bottoms will be rotted out of these root balls. So our plans are to first put these into some large pots that we have laying around, cover the root ball with soil, then as the burlap rots we have them pre-potted and they will root into the pot. That way they can be easily moved in the spring with0ut breaking the root balls and we won’t have to re-burlap them in the spring.
When the leaves really start falling we’ll collect some leaves and pack around these root balls to keep them warm and moist.
As a side note about burlap. I have about 450 Japanese maples to get dug over the winter and those we will put in a poly burlap that will not rot.
Mouse Bait, mouse bait, mouse bait, mouse bait!
Did I mention mouse bait?
When you take these kinds of measures to protect your plants from the harsh winter winds you are at the same time creating a perfect place for things like rabbits, chipmunks, and mice to spend the winter. They will love you for making their winter home for them. They will also eat and kill your plants.
Mice kill plants all the time!
Mice seem really harmless, but when they nest in and around your plants they will eat the plants, oftentimes eating the bark off the stem of the plants completely girdling them and killing the plants. The damage seems small and harmless, but keep in mind, your plants receive all of their nutrition through the cambium layer of tissue that is found right below the bark. And on some plants, that cambium tissue must be quite tasty because they can and will eat it up as far as they can reach standing on their itty bitty back legs.
I knew this guy once that thought the chipmunks in his yard were cute so he wouldn’t use mouse bait. That winter the mice ate about $5,000 worth of my recently grafted Japanese maples. Can you imagine? One winter they also ate all of my rooted cuttings. Except the Red Twig Dogwood, apparently they didn’t like those. But the rest of the cuttings were chewed off right at ground level. About 50% of them came back nice and full so it wasn’t a total loss. But honestly, they mowed them off at the soil level. The mice just moved in and set up house under the plastic with a built-in food source.
But the Japanese maples? That was a tough pill to swallow. I had spent months the previous winter Grafting those Japanese Maples.
I don’t like to kill things, but in this business, you can’t let rodents eat you out of business no matter how cute they are.
You can buy weather-resistant mouse bait blocks at a farm supply store.
Be careful. The bait is poisonous to pets and dead rodents that have been poisoned are deadly to pets as well.
Questions or comments? Post them below.
Is it even possible to overwinter potted plants in a very cold zone like 2 or 3?
Sarah,
I’m sure it is but I really haven’t been to an area that cold. I’d be looking for growers in your area to see what they are doing. Maybe hoop houses with double layer of plastic with air blown between and with minimal heat. If it’s small number planting them in the ground or trench and covering would probably work. There have to be growers in such areas.
Hi Mike! I enjoy reading your newsletter and appreciate all the information you provide. I have been living at my current address in MD for 12 years. I actually grew up here. When my parents died I remodeled the house and moved in. The landscaper planted Arborvitae’s and a couple other evergreens along the chain link fence (probably too close to the fence) and they overhang onto my new neighbors property. They provide an excellent privacy screen and hide the chain link fence. At the time they were planted, my older neighbor, (who has passed away) never said anything about this. All the neighbors here get along. Lots of trees overhang the other neighbors property and no one complains. As a matter of fact, his huge Tulip Poplar trees overhang my property and create a huge mess in my yard. I have never said anything to them. Well they have been hacking away on the overhang in early November. I told the wife if she chooses to do it herself she is responsible if the trees die. (MD law) They want me to trim off all the overhang. Won’t this hurt the tree? Shouldn’t it be pruned late winter, early spring? They have made a complete mess of the side along the fence.
LJ,
Chances are the trees will be fine. They really can be trimmed at about any time of the year. It’s frustrating, since it’s not on your side I don’t think you’ll notice a thing from your side.
All my hybrid roses are growing in large (20 inch) pots and every winter I lose many of them through our Cleveland Ohio winter. Any suggestions for wintering over my potted roses?
Thank you.
Eliot,
Ideally bury the pots in the ground for the winter. Next best thing is to pack them together close to the foundation and put leaves around them.
And let’s not forget that a poisoned mouse can be eaten by wild animals and birds of prey, which then die. Please use mouse traps instead of poison.
Hey Mike , I store Fig Trees in a insulated shed , do the have to be watered during the winter also what temperature should the shed be at. So that the can still be dormant . Thank you
Nick
Nick,
Yes, they have to be watered at least once ever two or three weeks. Shed should not get warmer than 40 45 degrees F.
We bought 2 Japanese Maple saplings in the Spring- Acer palmatum- Zone 4, Minneapolis. Planted them in pots and were thriving pretty well. I’m getting conflicting information re: winter protection, some suggested ok to leave in the unheated garage/breezeway during winter, but our master gardener thought those areas are too cold, and that it might be okay to bring them inside the house, water very infrequently- perhaps once weekly to provide some moisture, and let it go dormant. He also suggested using some germicidal soap to clean the leaves prior to bringing inside the house. I had kept them in the unheated breezeway x 2 wks and now starting to see the leaves fall and the remaining leaves look crumbled- our overnight temp gets to the mid 20s, and am sure we’ll be hitting negative temps soon.
Please advise what I need to do to protect these beautiful trees (about 3 ft tall now). If we can bring inside the house, do they need bright light besides moisture? Are the leaves supposed to completely fall off during dormancy period? Thank you in advance.
Eva,
Those trees need to go dormant and rest. That’s not going to happen inside. They’ll probably put on new growth and the trees will be completely out of sequence. The breezeway is probably just as cold as outside but also the air is quite dry. They really need to be outside where they can go dormant and stay moist. I’d bury the pots in the ground and honestly hope for the best. If they are hardy in your area they should be fine.
Hello Sir! I live this article!
I live in Metro Atlanta..
I just recently bought a home amd started to garden.. I have collard greens in the ground. I also have used tires as planters.. I have lettuce, carrots, white bunching onions and spinach planted in them.. Do I need to cover any of these??
Leah,
Probably not, just harvest what you want before it freezes.
I can see that this is quite an old post, originally, and I’m glad you can “recycle” these for newer folks to your site.
But I do want to say, thank you 100 times over for all the wonderful information you provide! I’ve always been surprised and so happy at all the information you provide for free, and your upbeat and positive attitude.
Not to mention your patience with all our newbie questions! Mike, you (and Duston) are the best!!
Judy,
Thank you, we sincerely appreciate that.
How to take care of my big potted Saga Palms for winter.. I had though building sort of a greenhouse.. Not to sure since I am 81 and not as strong as use to be… Also have ferns and
other plants to consider..
Thank you for everything….
Dorothy,
It’s important to remember that an unheated greenhouse structure helps plants that are hardy in your zone. But even covered under white plastic they still freeze rock hard if you are in a cold climate. The best place for plants in the winter is in the ground.
Mike .. I live in Atlanta Georgia where you never really know what you are going to get..
How will I cover my big potted Saga Palms for the winter… Also my big ferns.. Do I need
to use the white plastic and build a low green house..
Thank you for everything !!!!!!!!!!! It is wonderful…
HI, I just recently planted 11 green mountain boxwood in my front yard to make it into a hedge in July. Temps started dropping down to 40’s even upper 30’s recently at night. Then high’s 40’s -50’s during the day. I just put a layer of soil and mulch. Here in the midwest, it gets very windy at times, freezing temps and occassional snow storms during the winter. I’m doing this on a budget so I was thinking of something like your tunnel cage except I nail the burlap to the wooden stakes around and cover it, like greenhouse except I use burlap. Square footage is about 20-25 feet long. I had 11 but someone or a squirrel pulled it out when I first planted it. Then that one started to turn yellow and die a little. It wouldn’t recover staying in the ground so I put it in a pot until it hopefully gets healthier. Anyways, since my boxwoods are still so small and I don’t want it to die during it’s first winter, should I burlap boxwood’s? I’m afraid the harsh winter will kill it when the plants are still small.
Sorry, I meant your hoop house not tunnel cage.
Michelle,
Boxwoods can winter burn so covering with burlap might be worth while. Me? I probably wouldn’t do it. but the nursery next to me sometimes puts burlap over their small boxwoods in the winter. The way they cover them makes me think they are protecting them more from the sun in the winter than anything else. So it’s probably worth while.
Hi Mike,
We moved in August and I rooted many cuttings from our favorite hydrangea, following your video. I nervously planted some around our new home. My daughter wanted to put her’s in pots over the winter. We’ll be putting them in the ground, now! Thanks!
Mike,
Can I still take rose cuttings and leave them in pots outside over winter.?
Sp
All I can say is that you can try. I honestly don’t know if it will work or not this late in the season, but roses do root while dormant.
Hey Mike- Like everyone has said thanks so much for the info and time/energy you have put into this. My question is: I have a 36 x 100 (23’ a the peak) a-Frame greenhouse in MN I’m growing hydroponically in Dutch buckets. I keep having winter kill. Do you think using the white plastic over the buckets is my best bet. I can’t water because everything is shut off. I can turn on my fans to remove the warm air but would be worried about moisture going with it? Thanks for your time.
JJ
JJ,
Not sure I understand this set up but that sounds like a really big house with a lot of dead air space. For sure it will get too dry in there. If you pull the warm air out with fans that air has to be replace and maybe it would be replaced with moist air. But for sure you need to find a way to keep the humdity up in that house. Probably a buried water line with a frost free hydrant inside the house.
Thank you so much for getting back to me Mike. I do have louvers on the roof, 4 on each side and a total of 8 louvers on each side side wall(4 3ft up and 4-14’ up). With a full length window in the front 36’. Wide. With 4- 5×5 exhaust fans in the back would that help pull enough moisture through if I turn them on when it gets above freezing during the day? An cover with the white plastic. I don’t think I can bring in any water this winter. Once again thanks for all the help and advice. JJ
In South Georgia our weather fluctuates greatly. It may be 25 degrees this week and 65 degrees the next. Some winters we will have plants come out and try to bloom in between cold spells. With this said, how do I treat rooted cuttings/tender plants? Will they survive the fluctuations with only a hoop house? Do I need to cover and uncover them as frost comes and goes?
Next question is unrelated. You said somewhere that planting JM seeds did not guarantee a clone plant. Could the resulting plants’ roots be used as root stock for grafting? How long will it take for sufficient sized roots? If not, where else would you get root stock?
Thanks for all you do.
Mylinda White- Blakely, Georgia
Mylinda,
In your climate most things would be fine outside uncovered. Just water when dry. If you cover use a low hoop house and water really well before you cover. https://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2013/11/over-wintering-protecting-plants-for-the-winter/
Yes, Japanese maple seedlings are exactly what you need for grafting. Usually about 3/16″ in diameter. Learn more here; http://japanesemaplelovers.com/
I just received some potted elderberry, hardy kiwi, honey berry, and dogwood that are dormant. My question is, do I plant them now in the winter? Unfortunately I got over excited about the upcoming growing season here in MO, and now I’m beginning to regret ordering in the winter.
Cade,
If they are dormant you should be fine to get them planted right away. Plants are always happier in the ground.
Good article, thanks. But I’m concerned about using poison to kill mice. You noted the hazard to dogs, but other creatures that eat mice are being poisoned too (think hawks, foxes, snakes, and others). What about traps?
Sharon,
Multiple catch traps are a good option, all kinds of methods on youtube.
I love your information! Not an new gardener but have struggled with some issues and believe it will be better with all the new info. I have a hobby greenhouse and although I don’t use it for plants over the winter I do use it to store pots and concrete pots we have made until it’s time to get them out. Have started playing with cuttings. Proud to say I have 2 white lilacs that are growing from your info about how to do that. I share your posts with lots of people and Just want to say Thank you. We are all learning and becoming better gardeners because of it.
Thank you Snow I appreciate that.
Mike would this work for shallow root plants such as Petunias, calibrachoa, dianthus flowers like that, well I mean the hoop house idea for over wintering those types of flowers
Darrel,
It would for hardy perennials but not annual type flowers. I hope to update this page today with another twist to this over wintering strategy.
White plastic:
If you are in an agricultural region, look for silage plastic. It comes in BIG rolls. But make friends with a farmer and get his used plastic. Silage plastic comes in two flavours: 2 layer which is white on one side, and black on the other, and lets very little light through. And just white which lets some light through.
Humidity:
Saturate the ground too when you are setting up your hoop houses. This will delay the drying out.
If you are using high house tunnels (big hoop houses — See U of Vermont and Cornell U. for more info) opening them up and shoveling snow into them can provide longer term moisture.
Monitoring:
Amazon sells weather insturments that accept up to 8-10 remote temp/humidity radio transmitters. Get ones that use AA batteries, as you will change battteries about once a year. You can monitor all sorts of things this way.
Mouse baits:
If you have pets, you want to use a liquid baiting system. Mice cache stuff. I lost one dog, and almost lost another because mice moved baits, died, then the dogs discovered them in spring.
Lots of great ideas, but in Montana, there is no fall usually, AKA no planning. It was 70 and sunny yesterday, giving way to 30 and snowy now. The only plants I have are a few Blueberry and Goji, but they live through the -30 covered in snow.
I’m interested in turning the old flower bed out front into something useful, maybe Cactus, but everything I know of will live through the winter anyway.
Thanks for this information! It almost seems that rooting the plant is the easy part. Here in southeastern WI, the last two winters have been really brutal, so getting your newly-rooted plants to survive seems to be the bigger challenge. I’m a beginner, trying to learn first on a small scale. With any luck, I’ll end up with 100 or so new plants that I stuck in June, rooting them in 2″pots on my patio in totes. I’m trying to plan (it’s the end of July) how I’m going to winter them over. I have two 4-foot square raised beds for which I made hoop covers. Once their roots are about 1 inch or so, would it be better for me to plant them directly into the beds, or repot them and heel them in in the beds in the winter? Thanks in advance!
In your climate they would be happier in the ground. If in pots they really need to be covered with white plastic for the winter, I’m getting ready to do a new post about that soon. Check back here for that. Better yet, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter. They would be very happy planted in the beds but if you do that you need to dig and pot them in early spring. That’s okay with a few plants, but hundreds would be a great deal of work. We have a member, http://backyardgrowers.com/join, in your part of the country that is doing amazingly well at this.
Mike,
Is it better to use white on one side and black on other side here in N/W Ohio.
Dan,
All the big growers use white only.
Hi, guys – I stopped in at the farm after Easter this year (not realizing you weren’t officially open for the season yet). We’re from Nebr. 5a zone. Among several other plants, we bought a nice Inaba Shidare maple. I don’t have the guts to plant it in the landscape, just pot it for now and thus my question. It’s not rare to drop to -20 and lower for up to a week or more at a time. I was going to keep it in the garage which never gets much below 30 degrees. But you hate that route but could it work. I know by burying the pot I can keep the root ball alive but what about the top which is the “good” maple? No window well to use.
Mike,
The garage can work as long as you keep the soil moist, don’t let the tree dry out.
Hi Mike,
I just purchased some new plants ( Gooseberry, Blueberry, Blackberry, Hazlenut and Strawberry). All of these plants have new growth on them with green leaves, so I am assuming that they are actively growing. I live in PA and we are still in winter. According to the directions on the box they can be planted outside as soon as the soil is workable, which is right now, but we are getting night time temps well below freezing. Should I put them outside and let the cold kill off the new growth or keep them in the house until it gets warmer?
Thanks.
Steve,
Planting them out with soft new growth is not good, a cool garage would be better than in the house, but if you have to inside is fine, but they’ll need as much light as possible. Frost probably wouldn’t harm them too much, but a hard freeze is a different story.
If snow is a good insulator, what about covering a winter dormant plant with snow directly? is this a good idea or not?
I have a Rhododendron tree that goes dormant in freezing temperatures. Its leaves droop and get thin.
When the temp. goes above freezing it recovers.
Alex,
That’s typical for a Rhododendron. Putting some snow around is likely to help the plant more than hurt it.
Mike, I just read your post on overwintering plants. I realized that I might have made some big mistakes when I took cuttings and rooted lamium plants from a landscape area beneath my large maple tree. English ivy had choked out most of the lamium, leaving only a small patch of surviving plants. So, I ripped out the ivy and followed your instructions on rooting cuttings, making about 30 new lamium plants. However, instead of planting them into the prepared earth, potted them, thinking that they would need to be protected from the winter. I live in Boulder, Colorado, in the foothills of the Rockies, where winter fluctuates all over the place — winter temperatures normally range from below freezing to nice, warm days in the 60s and 70s, and can have 50 degree temperature changes in 24 hours. .
Now it is October 26 and I have found out that lamium are evergreens and winter over nicely in the ground, even in our Denver winter climate. .But, I have them in little pots and I doubt that putting them into the ground this late will give them enough time to adjust to being planted when it is forecast to snow this afternoon.
In September before seeing your blog on over-wintering perennials I made mini-greenhouses for my cuttings by getting clear plastic storage bins and inverting them over the little pots. Under the bins I mulched all around and between the pots, thinking to insulate them from freezing temperatures. Now I know from your article that the clear bins will probably cook the small lamium instead of protecting them. If I keep the lamium in their mini greenhouse because it is too late to plant them now, I will follow your suggestion of painting the bins with white latex paint,
However, there is another issue. The little pots are sitting on a bed of pea gravel that I made for my grandson to play in (not sand because of so many cats in our neighborhood). Now I realize from your article that the natural ground would have been much better. I fear that the gravel will retain the cold under the pots and damage the tender new plants. Originally I reasoned that the pea gravel would be good because I would periodically water the pots during the winter by just lifting the bins, and the pots would drain well into the gravel instead of frozen ground.
So, I seem to have made a mess of my big summer plant propagation project. One good thing about keeping the potted plants under the bins that I will make opaque with the white latex paint is that they will be protected by the high chinook winds that swoosh down the canyons and blast us in the plains. (I have bricks on top of the bins to keep them from blowing over.)
I apologize for the lengthy build-up to my burning question — WHAT WOULD YOU DO NOW TO HANDLE THE POTTED CUTTINGS WHEN IT IS SO CLOSE TO WINTER? Would you leave them on the pea gravel? Or, would you move the little pots to the bare earth that they will be planted in this spring, and cover them there with the bins? Or would you still plant them there even though snow is imminent? My original plan of waiting until spring to plant them was to give them plenty of time to develop good root systems.
Thank you for your very informative posts. I am eager to read your response. To be honest with you, I do not plan to start a backyard business now. I only want to landscape my yard on the cheap and have had great fun following your instructions on making my own plants. I don’t want all that summer work to be in vain. Thank you for any advice you can give.
Jackie,
If you plan on planting them in the spring I’d plant them now. The snow won’t hurt them if they are hardy in your zone.
How would you recommend propagating bamboo trees. Should I take and plant cutting or should I dig up roots cut them apart and replant them
Tom,
Bamboo is usually done via division, just divide the roots.
would you like some cheese with that whine? OK enough with the korney joke I enjoyed the post that’s always a welcome diversion from politics. Ha!
Thanks
Grampa
Mike & Duston, thanks for all the time you spent on this . Very informative. Especially the info on mice.
Nana’s Nursery
Mike, you got me going on all this growing stuff about 3 years ago. So, I bought 20 Colorado Blue Spruce 2 year old saplings. They are 5 years old and I still have them in pots. I was planning on nestling them against the east side of a shed (out of the wind) and packing hay bales around them. Will that suffice? And, actually, I only have about 3 with deep blue, 3 lighter blue, rest seem to be green. Would like more of your input on these in the spring, ie, shaping? Also managed to get about 20 Acer Dwarf Japanese red maple seedlings, only a few took, lost those last winter, so have stuck some seeds in pots this year and will cover with white plastic, see if that works. Thanks for your time,
Susan,
That’s fine, but you have to be concerned about mice. When you create a nice environment for plants, you are for the mice as well.
I think you could do the same thing with 2 foot rebar stakes at the corners and middle to hold the cover up over the cuttings/pots boxes, with 10-18 mm white tarp of the right size fitted over it, anchored to the ground with heavy-duty galvanized steel stakes. White tarp is inexpensive, can be waterproof, and lasts many years.
Mike, thank you for the timely reprint of this article. I appreciate all you do and one of these days I am going to follow your advice and start this small business. The experience you share is priceless. Thank you and Duston for your hard work on the video and blog creations.
You’re welcome Marta.
Mike, I enjoy your videos so much and know you put a LOT of time and effort in making them. I’ve gained massive amounts of useful information from you and frequently send links to my friends when I see something that they should know. I don’t have a questions…just wanted to give you two thumbs up for sharing your knowledge! YOU ROCK!
Thank you Jo Ann.
Im in my 2cd year of overwintering potted perennials in my backyard garden. I dig holes and plant the pots in the ground. Everything survived and I could just lift the pots our with my shovel for my early spring sales. I live in Michigan.
I am interested on how you get your Japanese.Maple seeds growing sooner? I just got some seeds in the mail and I am not really sure what method is best. This is the end of Oct. 2017 Can you tell me when and how to plant the seeds please? Thankyou 🙂
Diane,
See this; http://japanesemaplelovers.com/growing-japanese-maples-from-seed/
I have some rooted cuttings in a cold frame. Should I keep it totally closed in the winter with white plastic overtop? It has openings underneath the glass windows, so not completely air tight, which I think is good(?) Also, do you think it wise to put mice bait in there?
Nancy,
I think the cold frame should either be open completely or closed completely. My cuttings, in zone 5, are exposed, uncovered, all winter so they get snow and rain. Snow cover is good for them. Covered but with vents will allow them to dry out too much. If covered, it should be sealed up to hold in moisture and mouse bait would be needed.
Hi Mike, will 70% opacity white plastic be good enough? And can I cover my potted plants with just the white plastic and not with the hoop house?
Thanks
Sarah,
That should be fine. Hoops are better because they keep the frozen plastic off of the plants. But I’ve seen people cover with just plastic so it’s really up to you.
Hi Mike, I’ve subscribed to your program and have been successful in rooting some nice cuttings that I took last fall. They are ready to put into the ground but I have no place safe to put them because they are purple sand cherry shrubs and my yard has a few very old and tall black walnut trees. Do you think I should put them into pots (like you did with the lavender twist redbuds) and then sink the pots into the ground?
Last fall was just an experiment to see if I really could root cuttings and keep them alive long enough to sell as nice shrubs. I will find out either the spring or fall 2017. But so far, so good.
Jody,
For now that should work just fine. Nice job by the way!
I’m a novice, with no education on plants, I use great soil when I plant any new plants. I have 2 hydrangea plants, last year I pruned them down low and this summer didn’t get many flowers. I think I must have done the wrong thing. What should I do over the winter to get a better result next summer.
Bill,
Of course it depends on the variety but to be safe prune them all right after they bloom. See lots of details about that here; https://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2012/07/hydrangea-pruning-made-easy/
Thanks Mike for all your great info and advice. My question is about protecting potted plants through the winter. I have about 2,000 pots, mostly 2.5 qts but some up to #3’s also. I can’t heal them all into a compost pile, so what can I do? They are totally exposed to the elements. I’m in zone 7a near Nashville, TN.
Mike,
Ideally cover them with white plastic as described here. If you can’t do that, then pack them together tightly and hope for the best. Covering is great, but not always necessary. It also depends on what you are growing.
Hi Mike,
Really enjoyed reading your article here. Very informative from a common sense point-of-view.
I have a tropical hibiscus that I put in the ground this past spring/summer that seems to be doing very well, but I’m concerned about whether or not it will survive the winter. I’m in Indiana, zone 5B (I think), and I was wondering if using an overturned white plastic trash can just big enough to cover the plant without smothering it would work, much in the same way a white plastic mini hoop house would? Right now, the plant is only about 18″ in diameter, and about as tall (maybe 20″). Thanks for your help.
Paul,
If this is a hardy, perennial hibiscus, it should be fine over the winter unprotected. But if it is truly a tropical hibiscus covering it won’t protected. Covered plants freeze hard as rock but the covering does help. Hardy plants are fine like that, but plants that are not rated for your zone won’t survive outside no matter what you do.
Should I cover 1 to 2 year plants for the winter in zone 5. Some are in raised beds but most are potted for a spring sale. Thanks
Terry,
The best advice I can give is to cover potted plants. Plants in a raised bed should be fine. With that said, lots of people including me don’t cover. But it has to be your call.
I should have said I am in zone 5, central Illinois. Should I cover 1 to 2 year potted shrubs?? Thanks.
Terry,
Technically yes. Is it absolutely positively necessary? No, but if you don’t cover you have to know that involves some risk.
My plants are 1 to 2 years old, do I need to cover them for the winter?? Most are already potted.
Hi Mike,
I live in Newfoundland Canada and we are not permitted to use anything on our weeds except Weed be Gon which I find useless. I have creeping charlie in my lawn now and it seems the only way to get rid of it is to dig it out. Do you have any suggestions for an easier way to get rid of this weed. Would greatly appreciate your response.
Thanks, Gwen
Gwen,
The secret to a weed free lawn is an awesome crop of grass that will keep the weeds out. Are you not allowed to use any Scott’s products in Canada? I’m just curious.
Hi Mike,
So, I read the article on using bottom heating to help propagate plants over the winter. I couldn’t post my question there so I’m posting it here. This page is kind of related.
Our cuttings are in individual pots. We have like three per pot. The pots are small and are are filled with coarse sand. I read about digging a hole and filling it with manure to heat up the cuttings. You had said though to place a frame over that, then fill it with coarse sand, then place your cuttings in the sand. Would it work, if we dug a hole, filled it with manure, then placed the pots on top of the manure? Would the manure be able to heat the sand up through the pots? Or, should we take the cuttings out of the pots and place them in a frame of sand with the manure under the sand? Most of the cuttings have not rooted yet. It is getting colder here though, so I would like to do something soon.
Thanks in advance!
Smith,
The big question is what are you rooting. I do tens of thousands of a cuttings a year and I use no bottom heat. Why? Because only a handful of things really need it. Rhododendrons and some but not all evergreens. Presently I am not rooting anything that requires bottom heat. So I’m guessing that you really don’t need it either. So I’d just protect the pots for the winter and keep them watered as needed. Burying them with or without the manure will help. See this https://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2015/01/easy-winter-time-plant-propagation-can-home/
Thanks!
Our large potted hibiscus plant thrives all summer on our deck, but we don’t have the proper window space to give it during the winter months. My husband insists on bringing it in over the winter and putting it the garage by the back door for sunligh, a big no no I’ve read on your site. He water’s it a little and gives it a quarter turn every day. Of course it drops most of its leaves from the shock, but gets fuller when brought out again. It doesn’t get as many flowers like it use to. What should we do with this plant all year round?
Helen,
What he is doing is working but hardy hibiscus are normally fine outside if planted in the ground. They really need that dormancy period to rest up completely. But if what he is doing now is working I’d run with that.
Hi Mike,
You suggest that plants need to sleep during winter and not to bring them inside. Now does this suggestion hold for tropical plants as well? I plan to buy a lemon plant and I live in MA. Where do I keep them in my house? Windows are too cold as you pointed.
Rohini,
I don’t think I know the answer. You have to mimic the plants natural habitat as closely as you can. That’s really all I can suggest.
Hi, I am wondering about over wintering bush yews. We have inverted large brown and black plastic pots over them to protect them from our cold Canadian winter. Are the dark pots ok for the plants? Would burlap be better? Thanks! And Happy New Year!
Amber,
Yews are pretty tough and I’m afraid the pots will get too warm inside. Burlap would be much better.
Awesome advice! Thank you for making it so straight forward and easy to understand.
Hi Mike! The hoop house is great! But the plastic looks like it prevents rain and moisture to reach the plants! How do you get to the traps without lifting all the plastic, if you are catching mice?
Leslie,
The plastic holds in moisture. The plants should be plenty wet before covered and the plastic will hold that moisture throughout the winter. As a little extra insurance you can poke a hole and just spray some water around to raise the humidity inside the house. In a hoop house like this you don’t use traps you have to use poison bait blocks.
Hi Mike, I have been reading your emails and blog since around 2002 when I was working at two different nurseries, in southern Ohio, and a friend told me about you. I really enjoyed working at the nurseries and it made it real good that I was being paid to enjoy the day.
I moved to Texas in zone 9 and I am a northern girl and and worked for 6 yrs with plants in the propergation area and I just don’t know what to do with the warm winters here.
I have a 10 x15 hoop house and do some cuttings but don’t have a very good rooting rate. I would like to do some sky pencil holly and green mountain holly and wanted to know if I should grow them outside in sand and should they be cover or left uncovered.
Thank you for any info you can give me, and I really enjoy your articles.
Diane,
For the winter you can leave them outside in the sand, uncovered, but in your climate you’ll need to keep them watered on a regular basis. You can also do them during the summer using the system that most of our members, http://backyardgrowers.com/join use, the automated system. https://mikesbackyardnursery.com/mikes-plant-propagation-kit/
But in your climate with the intense summer sun you’ll want to shade your propagation beds. Even in the winter some shade won’t hurt so the water you apply lasts longer.
Thank you Mike
Hi Mike,
As a beginner, all I have are some baby crape myrtles I dug up that came off of roots that shot them up from a mother tree, and also a baby rose bush that came up by itself, they are in pots & because they are just getting established I am hesitant to take them out & plant them in the ground, but want them to make it through the winter. What do you suggest? I live in Richmond, VA
Thanks..
Fran,
You can easily slip them out of the pots and into the ground. As long as you don’t break or cut any roots they should transplant fine, even at this time of the year. They will be much safer in the ground. Or you can bury pot and all until spring if you like. But in the ground is the best place for them since you only have a few of them.
Hey Mike Thanks for the info on my Leyland Cypress trees about getting them through the winter . My kids live in Delaware OH. Maybe in spring I can get there for a visit with you and yours and learn something, maybe even bring back some OHIO grown plants to the state 0f Delaware.
Cliff,
Starting in June I’m thinking about doing workshop days. We can’t do them until our spring sales are wrapped but would like to offer them off and on all summer. No promises, but remind me about this.
On storing the small cuttings over the winter, will a well shaded area work with just the sand in well draining containers, covered with white trash bag and without the hoop house?
Jim,
They might do better un-covered. The sand will likely get too dry if covered. Unless the entire container is in the trash bag that might work if the bag retains the moisture. Telling somebody else what they should do is always a bit unnerving because I don’t mind taking chances with my plants because I know the conditions that they are in. But with somebody else I’m always afraid there’s something that I am missing, something that I’m not aware of.
I am trying to keep peppers through an Ohio winter . Planning on pruning them short an pack with leaves and mulch and cover with a black tarp over the winter. I see pruning promotes growth I might try some not pruned. Any suggestions ?
Rex,
I really don’t see how you’ll manage to save pepper plants through the winter. Even covered with a tarp the cold will penetrate and they will freeze.
I have successfully grown Lavender Twist Red Bud Trees from seeds this spring here in sunny southwestern Ontario, Canada. They are approximately 6″ tall now, each in separate small 3″ pots. I nurtured them outside on my deck in a mini greenhouse environment since spring.
After reading your posts, how do I prepare them for winter? I was originally going to keep them in my insulated garage inside their original mini greenhouse container but after reading your post, I am now hesitant..
Should I remove each of them from the small pots and plant them outside in a sheltered southwest corner of an established garden close to the house and cover them? OR should I keep them inside the mini greenhouse inside my garage and cover with white plastic to ensure humidity?
Your advise and would be appreciated ASAP as I don’t want to lose them now
Thanks, Rose…
Rose,
A couple of things. Lavender Twist does not come true from seeds, so chances are what you have are just regular redbud trees. I’d either plant them in the ground or cover with white plastic. Or you might be able to just heel the plants in for the winter, pot and all.
Hi, Mike
I’m a new grower who just purchased a large unheated 30×60 green house. Would this work to overwinter my conntainer plants? Im considering using an electric heater to maintain a temperature of 40-50 degrees or so. I live in zone 7.
How often do I need to mist or water the plants?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Zach,
The hoop house should work fine. Cover with white plastic, not clear and you really shouldn’t need any heat at all. If you did heat it, you wouldn’t want it any warmer than 34 degrees. Plants need to be completely dormant during the winter. Water them well before covering, then water every three or four weeks through the winter. My plants stay outside, uncovered and it was as low as 21 below here last winter and most did just fine.
Mike, does this work for all plants or just perennials? I’m new. Dave
Dave,
For the most part it works for all plants that are hardy in your zone. And you really should only be growing things that are hardy in your zone.
Hey Mike
I have a question, if you place the white overwintering cover over a shade cloth on a hoop house is that bad for the plants? particularly Perennials?
Especially when we have Mild temperatures?
Thanks
Steve
Steve,
That shouldn’t be a problem at all. The white plastic will reflect the rays of the sun so the shade cloth will have little influence. It might be a tad darker in the house, but dormant plants, especially perennials need little if any light at all.
Mike, I have a small lemon tree that is doing good outside so far, it’s been warm here in VA, however, we do get cold weather. What is your advice for keeping my lemon tree healthy if it gets below freezing?
Also, did you know that all donkeys have a cross on their backs? Interesting because Jesus rode on a donkey going into the Holy Land.
Thank you, Mike
I am very interested to learn from you. God Bless.
Ellen
Ellen,
I’m pretty sure a lemon tree in Virgina needs to be inside where it’s warm before it freezes. Didn’t know that about donkeys. I’ll have to look.
Hello, I don’t know if this dialog is still current but I would like to winter over some cuttings of many annuals I have around in the summer so I won’t have to buy so much in the spring. Can I keep cuttings such as petunias and geraniums in my hoop greenhouse? I live in western WA. The annuals die here in the winter. thank you,
Susanne,
No, that is not going to work unless the greenhouse is heated. Over wintering hoop houses still freeze, all the hoop house does is protects them from the wind and keeps them moist. Annuals will not make it. Geraniums can be over wintered in a cool basement, do a google search on that.
Mike,.
I made a 40 ft by 4 ft container with pond liner in it. I put dirt and water. Planted my perennial water loving plants (pond plants ). Here is my question. I want my plants to come out of dormancy earlier than normal. So could I just wait till spring and put clear plastic on hoop house. Or use the plastic all winter. I was kinda thinking spring would be ok.
Michelle,
That would be fine in the spring, but once out of dormancy they will be vulnerable to late freezes and even under clear plastic they could freeze hard at night.
My root cuttings are still in sand. Its sept 2nd. Should i transfer them to a dirt mix to winterover? I live in zone 5….cold!!
How about using white trash bags for cover? Some trash bags are made of white plastic.
Should I poke holes in the bags so the plants can breathe?
Merl,
White trash bags should work. Just make sure the plants have plenty of moisture. The cover is best if it’s affixed to the soil but not closed on the bottom. Thus the mini hoop house.
I live in zone 7b, just south of Birmingham Alabama. Last spring I put my cut liners in a bed under some tall trees at the edge of the woods. We only get some freezes here and rarely any snow. Do I even need to worry about hoops to protect the plants?
I just joined end of October 2013. I have made planting beds to plant liners in the spring. Should I
buy rooted cutting now and what do I do with them for winter. I need advice as I am so ready to start my backyard Nursery.
Lynn,
Buy your liners in the early spring. It’s just easier to deal with them then that it is now. If they get frozen in transit it will damage them.
Mike,
After your reply to my first comment welllll, I went out and covered my hydrangea and potentilla small plants in the raised bed as you and Duston show us on this page. I even used the sand on the sides as you stated, I used boards on the ends. Thank you, thank you. We had a wind storm on Sunday and it withstood it all. Your hoop and plastic works great. Will do all my beds this way next year!!! God bless your for all your ideas.
If white plastic can’t be obtained, would an old white bed sheet spread over the clear plastic (with both anchored securely) work as well? Thanks! Miss Marty in Georgia
Marty,
More than likely it would as long as the rays of the sun cannot pass through it.
Hi Mike,
Interesting article, and quite informative. Thanks!
p.s. Your Son, Dustin is handsome!
Thanks so much for posting pics, videos and articles! I know it’s time consuming so it’s very appreciated and helpful. One of these days I’m gonna make one of the plant sales or shindigs since I recently moved to Ohio from Arizona and have been following the newsletter and blog since Arizona. This is truly helping me make the adjustment to a colder climate 🙂
Thanks for the information Mike. I am taking my baby steps right now so I only have a very small area. I covered it with plastic and a white sheet but next winter I will need to have the supplies you mention to over winter. Thank you again for all you do because of the economy and my retirement age only 7 years away, this is one of my retirement plans.
Have a great winter!
I appreciate all of the good info Mike; from your presentation, feedback, and the comments of others. The wire mesh has also worked well for me in growing my tomatoes. I am also experimenting with it and row cover, as a mini hoop house, to see how long I can keep my swiss chard alive. Thanks much Mike.
Mike please know that you E-mails and Web site work is truly appreciated. I have learned so much from you and will be for ever grateful. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Kat, I do appreciate it.
Mike, your information is great. I save every one of your articles. They have been so helpful to me. Keep doing a fine job.
Thanks and keep gardening.
Can I use white round bale plastic for covering plants over winter? It is white on the outside and black or gray on the inside.
Andy,
I think it would be okay. The white on the outside should reflect the rays of the sun.
Thanks for the information on hoop houses. Your effords are appreciated!
What about my one and only outdoor plant? It is a Kimberly Fern. Very nice looking one in a hanging basket. I am in East Texas. We are getting a freeze next week.
Can I bring it in the house? (After a few nights in the garage, and maybe all the lizards and etc. will drop off in there instead of my house!)
OJ,
I’m sure it will be fine in the garage for a few days.
I live outside of Richmond, Va….do I still need a hoop house? I have some pine needles and some leaves! I am new of this year to your site and after muliple tries I did get about a dozen rosmary to root and I think 5 hydrangea, 1 jasmine and the easiest …Sedum! I actually sold my first few plants in my yard sale a couple of weeks ago…hope to get more into your program this winter…am a big fan of yours…love your humor along with your smarts!!!
Marjorie,
If you can’t cover your plants pack them together in a protected area, mulch around the pots with leaves and be sure to use mouse bait.
Hi Mike: I guess I am a member (through buying your system for Elsie’s daughter in Azle, Texas.)
I have bought a 42″ x 42″ Raised Planter and have placed it around my street side mail box. Tilled the soil inside it and Placed newspapers (about 9 pages deep) to later – maybe next spring or in a few weeks if I can get the plants. November 8 today in Bedford, Texas with no freezes yet.
I would like to send you a Picture of it (as is) now and a plan of what it hopefully will look like when in bloom.
When completed – I hope to make a one page Print Shop sheet to be distributed by the local MOWERS and small Landscapers around here to give them extra income and new customers – Never seen this done before, but would surely make a sparkle for Home Owners and maybe Realtors to aid the sale of their listings – other idea?
Here is how it could help YOUR GROWERS – 42″ x 42″ spot with low height and an assortment of beautiful and colorful flowers and bushes. I would buy the assortment of sprigs/small plants etc from YOUR GROWERS inventory – packaged to fill one mail box area. As orders are received, a number of packages will be ordered and stocked for local pickup.
If it would be alright with you, I would love to have suggestions from your Growers of what they might have to offer
Of course any input from you and Dustin would be most helpful.
Thank you Mike. I know you have the ability to take an Idea and expand it beyond imagination. Please respond with an email.
Mel
Hi Mike found you when looking to see why MY burning bush wasn’t as pretty as my neighbors. Love your blog !! I am an avid flower gardener, so your blog I will certainly enjoy !! You have quite the story !!
Thanks Holly and it’s great to have you on board with us. I’ll try and make sure it’s worth your time.
Hi Mike
All your info on wintering over is really excellent. I have a specific issue that you may have addressed in the many videos and booklets that came with my membership. It is the overwintering of 2-4 year old Japanese maples that I have in pots. I have about 2 dozen–all different cultivars–and I plan to put some into the ground (eventually) and bonsai others. What do you suggest for overwintering in my zone 5b environment? I suspect that you, too, have potted Japanese maples (likely hundreds!?) and I’d love to know your method(s). Last year I over-wintered mine in their pots up against our house with straw bales to break the wind. It’s not possible to do that this year, as I’ve changed my house configuration. Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks very much
Lin Howitt
Lin,
What you did last year is fine, but a mini hoop house is better. Be sure to use mouse bait!
Mike,
I am so thankful for your site and Amber who has answered my emails!!!! I am a newbie and boy do I need help! I have about 500 babies in dishpans (?) and put them in raised bed with “white plastic” top. I got my plastic from Home Depot (online only). I do have some hydrangea and potentilla in another raised bed but have not covered those, they are about a year old-hmmm should I cover them as well?
I love your site and even your goofiness at times. I tell everyone about you and will post your site on my facebook pages.
I believe more people than not love your site. If they don’t that is their problem-I saw a “scam” write-up in the beginning but thought–Hey, you (meaning said gardener) have to do the work! Amazing how so many want instant gratification but don’t want to put in the effort.
Many blessings to all of you.
Thanks Terry. The potentilla and hydrangea would be much happier covered or at least provided some kind of protection.
Hi Mike
I just recieved your system 2 weeks a go. I read the book in my deer stand. I am in northern Arkannsas zone 7. The nurseries around here are having there end of season slaes I have been picking up plants that I can use for cuttings next year. I have a hardwood saw mill close by so I will be starting my compost soon. The information you have given me has been very helpful. I am going to do the $4.97 program. In 2 1/2 years I will start selling all plants that I grow and then I will move on to buying from other members. I hope to meet some from Ar. or sothern Mo. That i may beable to team up with. I look forward always to yourn next email. Thank you very much Larry
Larry,
It’s great to have you aboard and some of our most successful members are in Arkansas. Keep up the good work, you’ll be amazed at how fast you can build inventory and have plants to sell.
Fantastic job and a LOT of great advice. Learned more about my potted plants as I have many things in pots. Here in North Central California, we get rain and some pretty cold weather–has been as low as 20+ especially when the wind is coming form the North. Learning something all the time from your hard work and common sense. Again, thanks heaps and keep up the fantastic work.
Thanks Mary, I’m glad you find my stuff useful.
Hi Mike,
Love all your gardening tips and videos.
I appreciate the hard work you, and those who help you, put into your articles, etc. Keep up the good work!
I will get the word out to my Facebook friends about your gardeing videos, etc. Maybe they will enjoy reading about plants and flower gardens, instead of so many recipes.
Thanks for doing what you do.
Shirley
Thank you Shirley, I truly appreciate it!
This was perfect timing for overwintering my Japanese Maples. I only have two, but I was unsure as to proper procedure to “tuck them in for the winter”. You do so much online that you are not thanked for enough! If you were closer, I would give you a hug! Say Hi to the donkeys………
Susie,
I’ll do that! Tomorrow Pam and I are going to have our pictures taken with the donkeys so wish us well. They are a couple of characters.
Mike, does that mean glass and plastic French cloches are bad for overwintering herbs, vegetables and fruit?
Theresa,
The techniques I describe in this article are great for over wintering hardy plants that need to go dormant during the winter. If you things like vegetables and herbs that you want to keep actively growing during the winter then you are going to create an environment as you would have in a greenhouse with clear plastic and a means of keeping the plants from freezing.
Mike, I love to get your information. It is always so helpful. I have plants that I want to winter over and most of them will survive, but do all plants have to go domrant? I have varigated impatients and some regular impatients can I keep them in the green house and just keep watering them? I also have the spike draccena and wonder if I will lose them this winter. there are too many to bring in but I sont want them to die. what should I do?
Janice
🙂
Janice,
Tropical plants don’t need the same resting period as the hardy plants that we enjoy in the colder states. The impatients might be fine inside as long as they have enough nutrition. Maybe somebody in your climate with more experience will have a better answer for you.
This is a great video and tutorial, Mike. I agree with everything you say about wintering over plants and as you well know, our mistakes are the best teachers of all! Having just completed 25 years of growing perennials for our small home-based nursery business, I’d like to share a couple of alternative methods of wintering over plants. Some years we would have over 800 potted perennials to winter over, as this would give us an early start for spring sales. Early in our career, we packed the pots tightly together on a gravel bed, laced the ground liberally with rat bait, placed sheets of 1″ Styrofoam over the pots so no sun could get in, then pulled OPAQUE plastic sheeting over it all with extra extending at the edges. We did use cement blocks and had no problem, but your method of using sand is probably better. Because we used the foam sheets, there was no need to paint the plastic. We’re in mid Michigan, Zone 5, and usually did this job around Thanksgiving. We cleaned all debris from the pots so no mold would form. Around the first of April, we would uncover the plants, give them a good watering and push lengths of 3/4″-1″ PVC along each side (we had pre-made holes) and pull the plastic sheeting over the plants, forming a mini hoop house and this would protect them from frosts, but get them growing and on their way. On sunny days, we’d open the plastic enough to keep the temperature from getting too hot. We’ve used this same method in our small, lean-to greenhouse by packing the pots up against the building wall, using the bait, covering with sheets of Styrofoam, weighting it down with bricks and then leaving the top half of dutch doors open on each end. The temperature stays the same inside as outside. Out of 600-800 pots, I could count on one hand the number of pots that didn’t make it through the winter. Our biggest loss was about 50 pots when we forgot to bait and the mice and voles had a field day! BAIT, BAIT, BAIT!!!
Thanks again, Mike, Dustin and Amber for the great and inspiring job you continue to do….
Anne,
Thank you so much for sharing your techniques. As is with all growing and gardening there is more than one way to do just about anything.
MIKE I SURE MISS YOUR SITE WHEN I DO’NT HEAR FROM YOU, IT IS SO GOOD WHEN I SIT
DOWN AN TURN THE COMP. ON THERE IS YOUR BLOG I REALLY ENJOY ALL YOUR INFO I
GET AN I AM SURE LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE ARE ALSO , ENJOY THE QUESTIONS OTHER
[PEOPLE ASK AN TRY TO OUT GUESS YOU BUY I CAN NEVER GUESS AHEAD OF YOU.
PLEASE KEEP UP THE GOOD INFO AS I BELEIVE WE ALL ENJOY IT. MAY GOD BLESS YOU
AN YOURS, EVEN THE DONKEYS, THEY ARE GOOD LOOKING ANIMELS.
Thanks Clyde! Pam and I just took some photos with donkeys yesterday.
Hi Mike – great idea. Wondering if a white plastic shower curtain, or two, would be as good?
Anna,
A white shower curtain would probably be fine.
We just started storing plants from our urban community garden in a 16×14 plastic-covered
hoop house. Glad to have read this article; which I’ll share with my mates.We have the room
build the mini on one side and take advantage of the ground heat by keeping the plants in
pots, etc. Snow is predicted for next week: so this is really timely. Thanks Mike!!!
Great work. Will be protecting my cuttings in the ground in a week or so over here in the Puget Sound. Have been producing more plants after being inspired by your website, blog, and videos.
Jon,
I so love to hear that! Keep up the good work.
Hi Mike! Thanks for all the help here. I am still a newbie 75 miles south of you. I just took my first cuttings yesterday, 11/8 and am only experimenting. I bought pyrimidal arbivitae, hicks yews, and two different wigeilia. I am thinking they should be brought in for the winter to establish roots. Am I correct? I will be able to give “bluelight” and moisture. Thanks! John in Alliance.
John,
Not really. If you bring the cuttings inside the tops are going to be too warm and they will continue to grow. Growers who do evergreens in a greenhouse only heat below the benches to keep the rooting medium warm and they keep the air in the greenhouse below 45 degrees F. so the plants don’t start growing.
Left outside your cuttings should root, but with evergreens and hardwood cuttings it’s going to take many months. Unless you buy a plant propagation heating mat and heat up the bottom of the flats a little.
More importantly, make sure those stock plants are healthy and happy and do hundreds of cuttings next June and July. http://www.freeplants.com/homemade-plant-propagation.htm
Mike, Thanks so much for all your hard work! I’m a patio gardener who covets more land…but your hints and advice have kept me smiling and my potted plants thrilled and thriving – right on the shore of Ontario near Rochester!
To think it all started with your Christmas Fudge video – and I’ve been sharing your site ever since! Keep up the wonderfulness, please.
Krysia,
Thank you so much and thanks for mentioning the Dirt Farmer Fudge video. It’s that time of the year, we need to make sure others get a chance to make that awesome fudge. http://www.freeplants.com/dirt-farmer-fudge.htm
I spent 8 years (1999-2007) working and living in east-central Minnesota and grafted, potted, and grew a lot of apricot, pear, apple, and plum trees while waiting for a transfer to a warmer State that never came through, so I had to deal with the problem of overwintering potted fruit trees. What I did was to dig a very large hole (about 30′ x 30′ x 1′ deep) in the garden and made the hole much deeper at one end. I put some leaves over the soil in the hole, then placed the potted trees on top of them. Shortly after the soil began to freeze, I put plastic Arborgards around all my trees (for protection from rabbits and mice) and then mulched around the pots and on top of the pots with leaves. Final step was to surround the overwintering area with chicken wire 3 to 4′ high to keep out rabbits.
Under these conditions, with typical extreme winter lows of -17 to -23F, the trees generally survived quite well regardless of the depth of the snow cover. One problem was that when the snow began to melt in late March, the hole could fill with water. Prolonged “wet feet” can damage or kill apricot or plum roots even if they are dormant, so I would have to suck or bail out the water in the hole. This is why I would put those trees in the shallowest part of the hole; apple and pear trees, in the deeper part of the hole. In drier climates than Minnesota’s, spraying the tree branches with HyTech Polymer (an anti-transpirant made by Agro-K Corp. in Minneapolis) might add some additional protection.
I appreciated what you wrote about overwintering plants and would agree with most of it.
Bob Purvis
Horticulturist, M.S.
Chair, Apricot Interest Group, NAFEX
Bob,
Great idea and a great use of that ground heat. I have a small under ground bunker that I use for over wintering some plants and this year I’m thinking of putting a few bales of growing mix in there in case I need thawed soil over the winter if we have one of those winters where it never seems to thaw.
Bob,
I’ve been doing something very similar to your method for the last couple of years and I can vouch that it works very well. I don’t mulch with leaves or use arborgard however. I just excavate an area of land 10 inches deep to hold snugly all my containers of plants together (containers are 1 gallon or less) and erect a fence around it using chicken wire to keep the critters out..
I haven’t encountered any problem with my plants succumbing to “wet feet’ in the spring. Moreover, the containers are buried in the lowest grade on my property where water collects and floods up to 8 inches high during spring thaw and rain! Plants that I have overwintered with this method include arbs, dogwoods, redbuds, yews, spruce, hawthorns, chestnuts, and quince.
Aside from excavating the land, this overwintering method is simple, effective and a lot less work. For the small-time gardener, a rototiller comes in handy in digging that ground for you. 😉
BTW, I am in Michigan zone 6.
Cannot find anything about winterizing roses in zone 5. Any info?
Olga,
Thanks for bring this up. We should have been on this earlier. For the most part in Ohio zone 5 or 6 I don’t do anything special for most of my roses. If you have specialty roses that are grafted just mound some mulch up around the graft union and I think you should be fine.
Thanks for this wonderful post. I learned about you from my cousin Kathryn Hall who has a plant blog site. This post did an excellent job of giving simple, inexpensive suggestions to the home gardener and small scall nursery person. I especially liked the idea of using the re enforcing concrete mesh and the importance of white plastics instead of clear. While our Ohio winters are getting milder, one never really knows what you are going to get. At my age (65), my education ( PhD in soil science) and our generations and generations of plants people and nursery folks, I think I know it all, but I really liked your simple solutions, so much better than rigging or buying PVC or steel hoops and probably a whole lot stronger because the structural spacing is so much smaller on a 6-inch grid.
Thanks Julie. Coming from someone with your background I truly appreciate your comments. Many of these ideas I don’t invent, like you I’ve been around a lot of really smart yet common sense people who have done all of this before me. My job is to share what I know.
MANY THANKS FOR ALL OF THIS EXCELLENT INFORMATION! Now, my problem is that I just planted some Pistachio seeds in pots hoping that they would stratify over winter and sprout in the spring. I placed the special white cloth stuff over them. Because of the crazy weather here, some are sending out roots now. HELP! What do I do about that? Will they die over winter? I live in southern New Mexico. THANK YOU!
Marlene,
Being Ohio I’m not sure I know the answer but my gut feeling is to just let them do as they want to do and keep them watered.
Thanks for all the great info, Mike. I just posted your article link on my Facebook site since I know so many Michigan gardener friends that will enjoy the overwintering article. We used to live south of Detroit and moved 3 hours north, about 10 years ago. I’m just getting down the growth season up here compared to the Detroit area….about 3 weeks behind up here. Planting with native plants has sure helped and it’s trial and error still with periennials. But it’s fun and I just love sitting out in my gardens on my stool and watch the bees, hummingbird moths and everything else flitting around the plants. It’s like heaven. I did want to ask……………I bought some red Crosiamia years ago and it just got larger and larger in the area. It’s the tall plant that has the flowers all along the drooping stem. Well this year….I had one single plant come up. So I dug up some plants to see what happened and the bulb/ corm or whatever it is………was still firm. So I put them back in the ground and waited. Near the end of the summer….I had a few more plants come up….late but they were alive. I’ll be anxious to see what comes up next year. They were always so beautiful in their spot in the garden and made such a statement. But I’m wondering….do some plants just take a year off and then come back? These plants are for zone 5 but we are a definite zone 4 since we live in a low river bottom area. Any suggestions or your readers have any ideas? Thanks for the good info…..
I have friends in Florence, Colorado (zone 5), originally from the New Orleans area, who overwinter regular tropical AMARYLLIS, IN THE GROUND, by mulching them heavily with pine needles they gather in the mountains! You can’t begin to imagine what a startling sight it is, to see amaryllises growing and multiplying in their flowerbeds in Colorado!!!
So cover your crocosmia with plenty of MULCH, and just remember to uncover them after the last freeze in the spring.
Corrine,
I’m not familiar with the plant but plants that grow from seed often take two years for the seeds to actually germinate. That’s why when we grow things like Japanese maples or Dogwoods from seed we do things to trick them into germinating faster.
Thanks for all you do. I have found it rejuvenating and fun.
I’m in my mid 70’s and what you and your efforts do is invigorate me. There’s a lot of stuff I’m not physically able to do but “I can Dream Can’t I?”
To be sure, I along with lots of other folks appreciate all you do.
Peace
jerry
Thank you Jerry, I appreciate that.
Some real good info here, Mike. Because I am a fellow blogger and edit video myself, I know how much work goes into these posts. I link to many of them from my site and often share on my Mimi’s Greenhouse facebook page. Thanks for all the work you do to make our backyard nurseries a success!
Kathy,
I truly appreciate you linking to our stuff from your blog and facebook page. As you well know, every little thing matters when it comes to Internet Marketing.
I just wanted to thank you for all of your information that you send to me. I look forward to your emails and enjoy reading your information. Thank you again!!
Thank you Delores!
Mike,
I think it would help if you had a Facebook button on your posts so people could post your blog to Facebook. That would get your hard work the recognition it deserves. I do not know how to do it or I would tell you. Have the donkey Google it and tell you.
Best wishes,
Jim
Jim,
I think we do somewhere on the site. Duston is constantly testing different elements on the site and those buttons probably got lost along the way. I have a couple of facebook pages but I truly only have time to answer questions here.
hi Mike; is it possible to save a pepper plant during the winter here in atlanta. this is a 3 feet tall long hot pepper plant which I grew this spring. I have enjoyed a bountiful harvest of peppers and was wondering if i could save the plant. will a white plastic covering save the plant from atlanta winter? Thanks.
I have a pepper plant that came up from seed in a big box of dirt and a couple of plants that we brought with us when we moved to NY from CO in Sept 2010 – it’s still alive! I potted it and take it outside for the summer, then bring it inside in the fall to stay in a sunny window. It has four or five little red peppers on it now – they’ve never been really as big as “bell” peppers should be, so I’m not sure what kind they are, but it’s a pretty plant for indoors in winter! In the tropics, where peppers and tomatoes originated, they’re perennials. No reason they can’t be up here, too!
Pepper Plants..are actually ‘A Bush’ ! They are sold as plants to last one season..so just Dig it up, Pot it Up..and move it indoors !
Then you can move it back outside next spring ! Don’t be afraid to ‘cut it back a lot’ when it startes looking bad.. it will come back !
Good Luck !
Check out this guys videos.. !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su3jR5JY8kY
Andy, as mentioned I think you’d have to bring it inside so it doesn’t freeze. covered plants still freeze, they just freeze safely.
thank you, once again from saving us from potential mistakes and aggravation. Overwintering is still a mystery (this will be our 3rd winter) but after this post, Im finally starting to get it. Last year we skipped the hoops and just threw plastic straight over the pots, securing it with lumber and bricks. GUESS how many times we had to pull the plastic back over the plants after the wind blew it off. Google satellite even snapped a shot with the plastic ‘over there’. This year, I was considering a rectangular structure with pvc. i KNOW the snow load will knock this down, what was i thinking? Every year, we cover with clear plastic, because white is just too expensive, and worry and worry and worry when spring comes, because you HAVE to catch it before it gets too hot in there. oh my god, watered down white latex paint, you’re a brilliant man.
People, LISTEN to what Mike tells you to do, he knows what hes talking about.
Thanks again for this post. Your efforts are truly appreciated.
if you cannot locate the heavy nursery grade white plastic, you can put shade cloth under the plastic (put on the mesh hoop house first, then the clear plastic). The paint idea does not work in a place of much rain, like here in the Pacific Northwest.
Trisha,
Brilliant? I’m experienced. I’ve been there and done it before so that makes me seem smarter than I am.
I LOVE that and am going to quote it! We don’t do things for fear of failing. If we don’t do things we don’t learn. If we don’t learn – well, we have failed anyways.
I am grateful for posts and came over to your blog specifically to say how appreciated the info you give to us is. My nursery is a condo patio with a few Styrofoam containers in which fish had been delivered to the local sushi restaurants. I have grown some easy plants like lavender from seeds and geraniums from cuttings, scavenged rose bushes from the garden in order to have a little green space.
We have been battling slugs all spring/summer and now they are coming indoors. We have tried all kinds of ways to get rid of them throughout the season but now my roommate thinks the only way we are going to get rid of them is to discard everything and start over in a year and one-half. I am so sorry to get rid of all my ‘babies’ so if anyone has any ideas that would be great. (Would sealing the containers in plastic contain them? What if they are under the pavers?) We tried slug bait, yeast in water, hand picking…
Tay, I’ve used this product around my hostas and it worked great. Gardens Alive sells a lot of organic products.
http://www.gardensalive.com/escar-go-slug-snail-control/p/2111/
Thank-you Mike.
i was very happy to see your e-mail this morning, i really just want to thank you guys for all the great info. i enjoy reading your blogs, and i have learned a lot too!
thanks again Mike!
I know those reinforcing mesh panels are tough and don’t take that rounded shape easily. How do you get that rounded shape for your mesh? Thanks for the info.
Concrete Mesh comes rolled up just like fence wire. No problem to form because
it’s already rolled up.Just measure how much you need to make a half moon shape
and cut off to leave the long pieces to stick in the soil.then cover it with white plastic!
You have to be careful when you unroll and cut it because it will come back and poke you in the back of the head.
Larry,
Allen is right, make sure you buy the wire mesh that comes on a roll, not the flat sheets that they now sell.
Love your website so encouraging when i am frustrated with myself n my garden .. always good tips to use or save keep up the great work ..many appreciate you
Thank you Bev!
I wonder about using black plastic over the hoops. Would that be too severe?
I believe Black plastic is going to retain the heat or during the day from sun light causing plants to overheat during the day and then later at night they are again going to get cold anyway because of winter. As mike have said earlier plants needs to go dormant or into sleep during winter but because of all the heat retained by black plastic they would feel like summer is here they will try to grow then later cause of winter cold at night they are going to get more damaged. So I believe black plastic is not good at all for winterizing the plants.
I think the black plastic would absorb heat rather than repel it.
Nola,
Surinder and Marion are right. Black plastic would not be good at all for the reasons they have stated. You really want the plants cold and dormant.
Great Info as usual Mike ! I see ‘Home Depot’ shows 10’x100′ White Plastic on their On-Line Site.. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-12-ft-x-100-ft-White-6-mil-Flame-Retardant-Plastic-Sheeting-CFFR0612/202184230?MERCH=REC-_-product-1-_-202184242-_-202184230-_-N Not sure if they carry it ‘In Store’ though !
I believe that the HD plastic is clear. The color “family” of white usually means clear; but you may want to get clarification before purchase.
If you are not buying white plastic from a nursery supply, it’s probably just construction plastic that is really clear but looks milky. Still it allows too much sun to pass through.
Hello. Thank you so much for all your continued emails and information and ALL of the time it takes you and your family to put it together. You truly have a heart for this – and others who do as well!
Not sure if this is a comment or a question:
I’ve got over 100 red buckeye trees started in small pots (2/3 are seeds from this year that haven’t germinated yet, and 1/3 are seedlings that sprouted last year). I’ve sunk all those pots – tops level with ground – and thrown a few inches of straw over them for the winter. This to me seems cheaper and easier than the hoop house. We don’t have a problem with pests eating anything, so I’m wondering if the mulched, sunken option is good enough for overwintering them.
Sally,
I’d say that what you have done is fine, it’ almost the same as them being planted in the ground.