On Nov 25, 3:44 pm, Merrily wrote:
I have heard and read that it is a good idea to cover perennials with
6 to 8 inches of leaves. We are in a new development and we do not
have a lot of leaves; however, I obtained some awaiting pickup in the
street of a nearby neighborhood and I raked up our few leaves. I
placed them over three new this year plants and piled them up as much
as I could. Then along came a wind and blew most away. I managed to
save a few on one plant by running out and placing one large nursery
plastic pot over the leaves with a brick on top to hold it there. My
questions are will leaving the pot over the leaves covering the plant
hurt the plant if I leave it there possibly all winter and what do
most people do to keep the leaves piled up as high as 6 to 8 inches?

Hello, merrily. Most plants good to zone need something like 4" of
mulch up to or a little past the drip line. As you get closer to the
main trunk of the shrub, you may want to reduce the mulch to maybe
0-1" (rhododendrons and azaleas for example). So if your plants are
good to zone, mulch should normally be enough.

A plant is out of zone when -for example- you live in Zone 6 but the
plant is good through Zone 7. Under those conditions, then you have to
use special overwintering techniques that includes putting a lot of
leaves around the shrub. To help with such scenarios, some people use
chicken wire and fill then inside with leaves. You can see this often
used when people have Hydrangea Macrophyllas in zones 6 and colder.

Once the plants are dormant, putting a pot on top of them will not
hurt them but it will prevent moisture from reaching them. If your
ground does not freeze, then you may want to water once every week or
two weeks. By the way, I doubt the pot will protect from cold
temperatures much; it will protect from snow and winds though.