You’ve spent months together on the patio but then the nights start getting colder, the fabulous bougainvillea has finished for the year, and your pampas grass looks like it’s a candidate for the fire pit. In other words, the end of the season is nigh. Of course you want to enjoy those fantastic container and pot plants again next year which means you need to find a spot where they can happily spend the winter. A greenhouse, a cool conservatory or an enclosed veranda is perfect for this. Your plants will be sheltered, and if you find yourself missing them, you can go and spend some time with them.
Vitamin D for your plant
Most container and pot plants hibernate in the winter which means that they do not need any plant food and only a limited amount of water. Deciduous plants should be kept almost dry. Evergreen plants continue to evaporate moisture during hibernation, so it’s best to keep their soil a little damp. Also check the plant really is hibernating, and doesn’t need some light therapy to stop it from drooping. Abutilon, Lantana and fuchsia, for example, prefer to be dark and dry but bay laurel and bougainvillea would rather it was cool and light.
Investment in next summer
Spending the winter in a greenhouse or conservatory is ideal, because the plant is then sheltered and cool. For the winter keep the greenhouse cold, although the temperature should not drop below 5°. It’s best not to place the pots on the ground, but rather on some insulating floor covering or on shelves. Hibernating plants also like to be free: make sure that there are no branches touching the glass or a wall. You can also replicate greenhouse or conservatory conditions in a cool spare room, or in a cellar, attic, garage, store room or shed. The disadvantage is that most of those locations are often slightly too dry and too dark for the plants. You may also forget about them: they really do still need splash of water from time to time.
Let them spend the winter in a plant hotel!
Another alternative is to send your plants to stay at a nursery for the winter. For this you pay a fixed sum per square metre. Google 'overwinter plant hotel' for an address nearby, and make an appointment. You take them off in mid-October. At the nursery they will be treated like they’re at a plant spa. In the spring you get them back in top condition, and with some growth already under their belt. How great is that?
