Winter is coming - how to you prepare?

What do you mean by netting pots? Sorry. Rookie!!

 

I just don't grow any tender plants, so there's no problem in the first place! I'm trying out leaving an H3 rated salvia in the ground, but if it dies it dies, I'll just get another one. I want my gardening to be fun, creative and relaxing, not a chore or a worry!

Nick

 

I love that idea, but just never been able to follow it.

 

I have achieved that!

 

Who said that, Not heard of netting pots.

 

I just harvested 15kgs of beautiful , beautiful limes from my little tree-in-barrel. That's worth a minimum of effort!

 

But they sell those at the supermarket! I garden for butterflies and you can't buy butterflies at the supermarket, can you? Ha! You silly sausages, wasting valuable garden space growing edibles!

Nick

 

Tell that to Ian Duncan Smith! Growing my own food isn't just a dilettante hobby, it turned out to be a necessity, as well as being supremely satisfying I tried the 'working like a maniac to be allowed to spend what was left from HMCE in a supermarket' for too many years Anyway, plenty of butterflies here..mostly on the brassicas

 

Ohhhh got ya. thank you

 

I have nothing in pots at the moment apart from some dwarf Irises. I tuck those against the house back wall which faces south east. My garden was empty apart from trees when I moved here four years ago and my choice of young shrubs (so far) have all been hardy down to -15C/5F. Earlier this year I took a chance planting Choisya 'Sundance' and I'm yet to find out how that responds over winter.

My biggest problem during the winter is not so much frost but deer. When food supplies in the surrounding area disappear they move onto gardens, so finding plants that are deer resistant is also difficult.

 

That sounds like a good way to keep the garden to me. Not making any particular efforts to protect plants here except for the few that I know to be a bit tender and where I can I have planted these where they are some way sheltered from the coldest winds by something more hardy. Big experiment this winter for me is a handful of young avocado trees that are all in the ground in hopefully parts of the garden where they can get through winter but grew them from seed from fruit I ate from the supermarket so not going to be too worried if they don't make it. One of them is about 5 years old now but I can't be bothered bringing it in and out for winter anymore. Was going to say I prepare by adding mulch about the place but to be honest I do some of that throughout the year. One thing I have done to prepare for winter in the last few weeks was to take some of the top growth off one of the driveway trees that has started to lean to one side due to wind damage and have just left some leaders to hopefully take over the bulk of the top growth in future that are now more vertical.

Happy gardening!

 

Hello. Can you tell me your thoughts on whether or not to lift Dahlias. last year was the first time I grew them and I left them in. They reappeared cheerfully this year (didn't flower until September mind you) . I bought them from a local gardener and she said leaver them in but people have said its risky and I should dig them up and bring them in.
I did mulch them. Thank you in advance