Ledbury Focus November 2019 Ledbury Focus November 2019 v3 | Page 50

Creating Your Garden Paradise ĂƌƟĐůĞďLJ:ŽŶĂƚŚĂŶŝƐŚŽƉ Protecting your plants over the winter M any of the brightly coloured plants that we grow in our gardens in summer fall into the category of tender perennials and half hardy plants. These are plants such as angels trumpet (Bermansia arborea ‘Knightii’), pelargoniums, dahlias and fuchsias. Most of this type of plant material can lifted, and brought inside for the winter. This needs to be done before the night time temperatures drop below 10ºC and definitely before the first frosts arrive. These plants are not fully hardy in our climate and need to be brought inside in order to survive. If you are lifting tender perennials it is best to put them in a dry potting mix, and give them a very reduced amount of water in the winter months. One of the main problems in this country, and more likely to kill plants is not necessarily the cold or even the wet - it is the combination of the two together. For pelargoniums you need to avoid the soil around the plant freezing, and the best way to do this is not to wet it. Also the pelargoniums will be in a semi dormant state and will not need a great deal of water; only water if the temperature is going to be consistently above 5ºC for a few days at a time, including overnight. If you have a frost free greenhouse then that is the best place for these types of plants, but I have seen fuchsias, angel trumpets and pelargoniums stored successfully in garden sheds with very little light. If you do not have a heated greenhouse simply cover your plants with dry newspaper and 50 50 store in a regular greenhouse, shed or garage. Large garden plants, such as fuchsias, can be buried below the frost level in the soil. By the end of the winter these plants will look very sorry for themselves, with few leaves and bare stems. However, given a bit of spring warmth, some fresh compost and some water they will start to sprout. If you have buried the fuchsias remember to dig them up in late April and pot out so the new growth can get going. They will take a few weeks to green up. When we have snow around even hardy plants outside will freeze. For many this is not a problem, however some plants that are borderline hardy can struggle. For example, there have been years when Phormium tenax (New Zealand flax) have not done well in the winter. What often happens is it will freeze overnight and often thaw in the day. This freeze/thaw weather can cause a lot of damage especially when it re-freezes at night. Plants like New Zealand flax benefit from a mulch of free draining compost around the base of the plant as this seems to help avoid the extremes of freeze/thaw action. Similarly, borderline hardy species like French lavender (Lavendula stoechas) benefit from soil additions of grit which increase drainage around the plant. Plants such as cordyline can be damaged by water collecting in the leaves and then freezing in the base of the crown. You can solve this by tying the leaves together so the rain water runs off and does not accumulate in the crown of the plant. Plants like gunnera can have their tender crowns protected by using their own large umbrella like leaves to protect the plant. Just cut them off and lay them in layers over the crown and leave for the winter. To advertise call 01684 833715 or email: [email protected]