Lifting And Moving Delicate Plants Out Of The Cold

Lifting And Moving Delicate Plants Out Of The Cold
By Alan Cray

There are a variety of steps gardeners can take to defend their investments from the unfeeling, hostile winter season. Depending on location gardeners have been fairly lucky so far. Snowfall only hit a limited number of southern locations throughout the start of winter, and the entire season has proved surprisingly temperate. This of course led to heavy flooding in less fortunate areas, including Devon, Cornwall and York, so gardeners there have their own worries to deal with.

Most years you can expect to see dangerous frost setting in around January and February, though the extra cautious may want to begin preparing as early as mid-autumn. With the coldest months fast approaching many gardeners will be building bamboo frames and wrapping larger shrubs in insulator materials to keep them safe from wind and snow, while smaller perennials are being hidden under generous helpings of mulch to stop their soil from thawing over the winter period. For plants able to handle the process, however, lifting and moving can be the most effective way of keeping them protected.

Fuchsias, Cannas, Dahlias and Ginger Lilies are all suitable for lifting and potting during the freeze. There are many more to add to the list, and each has a slightly different method of re-potting, so although these are common you should be sure to research your specific species. In most examples though, the following will do just fine.

Start by removing the old flowering stems. Cutting them to about 5cm from the base should be fine, not shocking the plant too much and leaving plenty of space to regrow. Then use a garden fork, not a shovel, to gently prise the specimen out of the soil. Try to avoid carrying out a potting after a freeze, since you'll want fairly loose soil to avoid hurting the roots, a little damage now could stunt the plant considerably come spring.

Clear away the debris from the roots and move the plant to a suitable container. A Canna will want a sandy tray, where Fuchsias will be happy in a small pot of appropriate soil. It's an obvious point, but be sure to move your specimen to a container with the appropriate dimensions and soil.

Once it's safely potted the plant will need moving to a sheltered location, though not inside your home. It's important to keep the plant in a dormant state, so a garage, shed or greenhouse is ideal. Your plants will stay cool enough to avoid mistakenly exiting dormancy, but will be sheltered from the frost, wind, rain and snow. A small programme of watering will sometimes be necessary to keep the plant alive over winter, but not much maintenance will be required at all. If you intend to keep the plant insulated out of doors be sure to clear away any leaves that fall in the pot, unless you wanted an impromptu mulching.

Remember that some plants exhibit a reaction to frost before they need to be potted. Cannas and Dahlias will start to blacken around the leaves right before they're perfectly suitable for potting. Don't feel the need to follow these rules precisely, but always study the topic to make sure you're making good decisions.

Alan Cray wrote this article with the assistance of wellingtons providers GardenCentreOnline.co.uk. As a company trading in the gardening industry they were perfect for Alan to use for the article, helping him bring more to it.

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