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Gardening

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
What I think kills them is frozen water in the pot, breaking the cells in the roots. Snow falls then melts, or rain falls, the roots take up the water, then freezing temps return and the roots are toast. So I put potted plants in the garage where they won't get any water all winter. They don't seem to mind.

But now I have too many pots. Am seeking an alternative to the extra pots that won't fit in the garage.
Yeah, DH might have a problem if I try to claim more garage space for plants, LOL.

But that makes sense. We get warnings to make sure we water trees and what not in dry winters because the drought has been so bad that's an issue here. But it makes sense that would be different in pots, especially if they don't drain well.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
I have strawberry plants in a large pot on a little wheeled stand just so I can move them around. I stick them under my deck/near the house in the winter and they have come back each spring now since I planted them in 2018. Strawberries are super hardy, but I was a little worried originally if having them above ground would be an issue or not. Since they are under my deck they are somewhat protected from the elements, but not fully. Snow definitely gets blown in etc..
 

shadoj

Angel Diva
What do you do with those shade perennials over the winter? I'm assuming they are potted.
Somehow I accumulated a LOT of potted shade perennials this last spring. I am not planning on putting them in the ground for this winter. Just because.

I think just moving the pots into the garage (unheated) will be good enough. But I do have a huge pile of mulch. I could leave the pots outside and mound the mulch up around the pots. Does the nursery ever do this for plants in biggish pots?

Yes, potted plants. We pack 'em together as tightly as possibly in the nursery, then throw a thin foam/plastic blanket over them and weigh it down with boards once things are dormant/frozen. We tip down the big trees and shrubs and cover those, too. Rodents can definitely be an issue, snacking on bark or making nests underneath. We'll sometimes mound bark mulch over the root balls of large trees that are not sunk into in-ground pots (those stay upright).

Supplemental watering has been mostly cut off for the year. Biggest problems are having too much moisture + freeze in fall, or thaw/freeze cycles in spring where the pots warm up too quickly and plants start growing too early. Ice crystals indeed damage unprepared plants.

The conditions in containers (vs. the ground) have bigger fluctuations in moisture and temperatures, which can be hard on plants. I've overwintered many 10-15 gallon pots of native plants; I tuck them up/under/against existing vegetation in my garden or the east side of the house. I make sure they get leaves and snow cover mounded up & around them as much as possible. Smaller pots can be dug/trenched into the ground so they're sitting lower down, with mounded leaves/mulch over the top.

Some species do take well to "dry" dormancy, while others will just dehydrate as they try to keep growing roots in pots without damp leaves/snow on the surface. Can depend on how established the plant is, too.

I'm tired. Hope some of this makes sense. I could drag this out into several pages... but I won't, yet ;)
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Some species do take well to "dry" dormancy, while others will just dehydrate as they try to keep growing roots in pots without damp leaves/snow on the surface. Can depend on how established the plant is, too.
My ferns do OK in the garage. This is definitely dry dormancy.
So do my hostas.
I purchased some climbing roses that are still in pots. I may not get them planted. Are they OK with being dry all winter?
I also have some potted ajugas. They have grown nicely and look as happy as the day i bought them, only bigger. Do I need to put them in the ground now? Will they do OK dry all winter?
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I'm doing something of an end of season review of what plants worked well for me (in a hot and dry year) and what didn't. I've relocated a few things - the major one is a 7 foot tall black lace elderberry that was growing into the sidewalk and not dealing with the sun/heat/drought well so I dug it up and moved it into part shade next to the house. (And was sore for days...) it lost all the leaves but has sprouted new ones in its new location, so fingers crossed that means it will be okay for next year. If not... it couldn't stay where it was so... worth a shot.

I'm moving iceplants that are in little deck containers into rock beds, where they seem to make it through the winter.

And laughing that this Sedum Telephium, which the label says tolerates poor soil, heat, and drought.... The label literally says "this is a tough succulent!".... both plants died mid summer. But the other plants around it all did well, including dwarf greek oregano, dwarf catmint, and a volunteer cherry tomato, which I just ate fruit from.... Sometimes I just don't know.

On the other side of that bed, my lavender exploded, and while normally I struggle with rosemary, it's happly nestled in the lavender with Lithodora mixed in there too. I'm excited to see if the rosemary actually overwinters in this spot. I've heard that is possible here but have not had any luck.
20221006_143456.jpg
LOL and the funniest thing is.... I planted arugula seeds about a decade ago. That garden bed is gone and a garage now, but I transplanted a few to a new garden bed and they are all over the back lawn now. There are 2 bigger ones in the front lawn that DH kept asking me to pull out.... and instead I created the landscape around them. The bees like them and... it's yummy and very drought and heat tolerant so.... landscaping with arugula it is.

20221006_144901.jpg
 

shadoj

Angel Diva
My ferns do OK in the garage. This is definitely dry dormancy.
So do my hostas.
I purchased some climbing roses that are still in pots. I may not get them planted. Are they OK with being dry all winter?
I also have some potted ajugas. They have grown nicely and look as happy as the day i bought them, only bigger. Do I need to put them in the ground now? Will they do OK dry all winter?

I'd guess the roses will be fine. Not as familiar with overwintering Ajugas, but they're pretty tough plants in terms of drought & cold, so might as well treat them the same as the rest of your plants for convenience! Nothing wrong with planting anything now if you have a spot; fall is good for planting because roots will keep growing without competing for energy/moisture loss from new top growth.
 

Christy

Angel Diva
I can't believe I'm still watering my garden. We've had less than a half inch of rain since early July. Nothing but sunny and low 70s in the forecast. The constant haze from smoke is getting old, too. But the trees and gardens are just looking so...parched.
 

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shadoj

Angel Diva
I can't believe I'm still watering my garden. We've had less than a half inch of rain since early July. Nothing but sunny and low 70s in the forecast. The constant haze from smoke is getting old, too. But the trees and gardens are just looking so...parched.

That's so unfortunate. Hope the wind is mild... Even the most drought-tolerant plants need to get established, and these extra dry years can be tough on even mature plants' resources. The past few seasons up here in MN seem to be getting more and more unstable, too. Keep up the deep watering!
 

shadoj

Angel Diva
I'm going to try to get a few more plants in the ground today (have the day off from nursery work, but have to work on some other computer projects, too)... a little chilly but not too bad. Finally got some photos downloaded off my phone; just have to go through them all now, ya know, in all that extra spare time I have... :smile: Anyhow, MN weather has been excellent for fall color, including shrubs & forbs. We're only midway through peak, and temps should help keep things going for this next week.

Enjoy some Virginia creeper, used as an edging groundcover instead of a climbing vine:
vcreeper.jpg
Not color enhanced!
 

shadoj

Angel Diva
A few more from my "office," for all you lovers of fall color (or those down under planning this year's garden...)

am_hazelnut.jpg
American Hazelnut (Corylus americana).

winterberry.jpg
Winterberry (Ilex verticillata).

bigtooth_aspen.jpg
Bigtooth Aspen (Populus grandidentata).

gray_dog.jpg
Gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa).

Just the tip of the iceberg. The trees are pretty gorgeous right now, too.
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
We’ve been quiet this year!

can anyone tell me what this grass is? It’s a warm weather grass that spreads by these long tendrils that branch off. The red part is stiff. And it turns brown as soon as it gets cold here, ad stays that way all winter until the next spring. It's taken over our neighbor's yard (his uncle planted it when he owned the place - think he got it off a TV ad) and is working on ours now and we haven’t managed to figure out how to stem the tide.

anyoneIMG_1956.jpegIMG_1955.jpeg
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
can anyone tell me what this grass is? It’s a warm weather grass that spreads by these long tendrils that branch off. The red part is stiff. And it turns brown as soon as it gets cold here, ad stays that way all winter until the next spring. It's taken over our neighbor's yard (his uncle planted it when he owned the place - think he got it off a TV ad) and is working on ours now and we haven’t managed to figure out how to stem the tide.

anyone
IMG_1956.jpeg
IMG_1955.jpeg
Could it be Bahia grass?

This webpage has all the common grasses homeowners plant on purpose in the USA.

 

skibum4ever

Angel Diva
They make products that kill Bermuda grass, crabgrass etc. without damaging your lawn.

Here's one of several being sold on Amazon.

BioAdvanced Bermudagrass Control for Lawns, Ready-to-Spray, 32 oz https://a.co/d/5ehl3xg
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
@marzNC Took a look - I don't think so. Unfortunately, I think it's Bermuda grass. That's been our working assumption so far.

@skibum4ever - I think that's what we currently have for it. I probably need to nudge my DH a bit more, to make sure he's applying it regularly. From what I read, the best we can hope for is to keep it under control, but we haven't been doing a great job so far.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
@marzNC Took a look - I don't think so. Unfortunately, I think it's Bermuda grass. That's been our working assumption so far.
I have two kinds of Bermuda grass in my front lawn in NC. That's not Bermuda grass.

In the past couple years I've learned a lot about how to make Bermuda grass grow thick enough to choke out crabgrasses. When I moved into the house 30+ years ago, spent a year getting the Bermuda out of the flower beds next to the house. Used something called Post but not sure that's available any more. Digging out the roots was the only way to really get rid of it.

What we have in the backyard that grows thick enough to choke out everything else is centipede grass. Takes years to get established but self seeds so given long enough . . .
 

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