Ready for Winter
Now that the colder temperatures of late fall have arrived, it has become time to get the nursery ready for winter. Things need picked up and put away.
And of course, plants need put away for the winter months ahead. The plants are all in pots, which doesn’t give them the best protection from the cold temperatures of winter.
The best protection for the plants would be for them to be planted in the ground. But with thousands of plants here, that isn’t feasible, or possible for that matter.
Ground heat
We do the next best thing around here. Believe it or not, but it is much better for the plants to be on the ground if they can’t be in the ground.
The ground freezes solid but it is still somewhere near 30 degrees or so. The air temperatures can vary from cold to frigid to somewhere near arctic cold during winter.
Being in contact with the frozen ground gives them some protection via ground heat. The soil in the pots freezes solid as well, but the plants stay warm enough to protect them.
These are all perennial plants that are safe for this part of the country. We are in Zone 5b/6a around here at the nursery. This is going by the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.
Most of the plants would do fine sitting on the ground, frozen solid and frozen to the ground. But we do one more thing for most of our plants.
Plastic wrap
We cover most of the plants with plastic. No, not plastic wrap or cling wrap of any kind. We use white nursery plastic. They aren’t wrapped in it though.
We pack the plants under the benches that we use during summer. Then the whole bench is covered with white plastic. Tucked in and secure.
Plants still freeze and they freeze to the ground underneath. The plastic keeps the cold and drying winds of winter off the plants. Being white helps to neutralize the sun’s warming effects.
Not room for everybody
Some plants are just too tall to go under the benches. Others are really tough, hardy plants for this area. If I need somebody to ride out the winter in the elements, these are the ones I choose. They get packed in between 2 benches so they are at least out of the winds.
Greenhouses use clear plastic to warm up plants with the sun. We don’t want the plants warm while they are sound asleep over winter. The white acts almost like shade and only allows it to warm a little.
The plants don’t need to be watered while they are covered. When temperatures do start to warm up in spring, condensation inside actually keeps them moist enough.
Now, all we have to do is wait for about 4 months until it is warm enough to uncover the benches.
