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?

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.

"Merrily" wrote in message
...
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?


Depends on where you live, and which plants you're dealing with.

In article
,
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?

It is my understanding is that some grape growers in the Finger Lakes
region of New Your State will bury their vines in dirt during the
winter. So if you are in a region where winter temps drop to 0 F and
your plants are already dormant, you may wish to try burying them also.
--

Billy

Bush & Cheney, Behind Bars

On Nov 25, 9:00 pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"Merrily" wrote in message

...

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?

Depends on where you live, and which plants you're dealing with.

We live in Zone 6 (I've heard some gardeners call it 6B). I'm
concerned about three smallish plants, a Hosta, a Bleeding Heart, and
a Day Lily Stella D'ora. We do have some shrubs and they were planted
in 2005 and we didn't do anything to protect them over the two winters
that we've been here and they seemed to have done OK, except for some
insect problem in the summer. Of the three mentioned plants, only the
Hosta did well over the summer. The plants were purchased from a
Future Farmers of America student and they were field grown plants
with roots, etc. and someone told me that the two that did come up
some but did not bloom may bloom next summer. I really didn't
understand what I was buying very well.

"Merrily" wrote in message
...
On Nov 25, 9:00 pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"Merrily" wrote in message

...

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?

Depends on where you live, and which plants you're dealing with.

We live in Zone 6 (I've heard some gardeners call it 6B). I'm
concerned about three smallish plants, a Hosta, a Bleeding Heart, and
a Day Lily Stella D'ora. We do have some shrubs and they were planted
in 2005 and we didn't do anything to protect them over the two winters
that we've been here and they seemed to have done OK, except for some
insect problem in the summer. Of the three mentioned plants, only the
Hosta did well over the summer. The plants were purchased from a
Future Farmers of America student and they were field grown plants
with roots, etc. and someone told me that the two that did come up
some but did not bloom may bloom next summer. I really didn't
understand what I was buying very well.


I'm in zone "5 maybe 6" (Western NY along Lake Ontario). I never did
anything special for hosta or daylillies, and they do fine. I don't have
bleeding heart, but a friend does, and she's given it no special treatment.
I mulch the entire garden with a 3-6" layer of ground up leaves & grass
(from the lawnmower), but that's not done with any specific plant in mind.

On 11/26/07 7:22 AM, in article
, "Merrily"
wrote:
Snip!


We live in Zone 6 (I've heard some gardeners call it 6B). I'm
concerned about three smallish plants, a Hosta, a Bleeding Heart, and
a Day Lily Stella D'ora.

None of those will need any extra protection unless you only planted them
late this fall. I don't know if heaving is an issue for you, but it can be
for me on late additions. I just keep my eyes open and push them back in.

Cheryl

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?

I did mulch some expensive unusual bulbs (recommended first year) & a
few other things. My perennials will have to sink or swim on their own,
that's why I have them in the first place, not as much fussing.
Protecting roses, at least in my zone 5a, you can do more damage to the
canes than taking your chances, may mulch a couple and two I have to
bury in dirt here soon because I've read the canes are only hardy to 20
degrees, and they're bands that didn't put out much growth although I
planted out of the pots in early fall or late August, can't remember.

My bleeding heart got partly ruined by the late spring deep freeze, but
I covered it on the bad nights with a pot & plastic and it came back and
finished blooming, it was huge for its second year, may have been set
back; otherwise I don't protect them for winter. I'm not going to worry
about my hostas, and some of my lilies have a little mulch left from
this year.

I will do extensive mulching in the spring but that is to conserve
moisture and keep weeds down.

The only way to protect with leaves in the fall is to make a small
chicken wire cage (24" stuff), stake, and fill with leaves or pile on
leaves and cover w/screen or chicken wire and lay brick or stone on top
of it when they die back. Be sure to take it off early enough in the
spring.

"Jangchub" wrote in message
...
Mulching keeps it frozen. This is to help clear the confusion.

Right, if you are trying to protect these plants it's from being heaved up,
not frozen out. Put the mulch on after the first good freeze. This keeps the
ground from freezing/thawing cycles. My gardening creed is survive or be
replaced, mulching was to improve soil quality, not plant protection. Darwin
rules!

I always heard...."My, your plants and flowers always looks so lush and
healthy." Yup, the weak and sickly get yanked. I seldom messed with "fussy
characters."

Val

"Merrily" wrote in message
...
On Nov 25, 9:00 pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"Merrily" wrote in message

...

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?

Depends on where you live, and which plants you're dealing with.

We live in Zone 6 (I've heard some gardeners call it 6B). I'm
concerned about three smallish plants, a Hosta, a Bleeding Heart, and
a Day Lily Stella D'ora. We do have some shrubs and they were planted
in 2005 and we didn't do anything to protect them over the two winters
that we've been here and they seemed to have done OK, except for some
insect problem in the summer. Of the three mentioned plants, only the
Hosta did well over the summer. The plants were purchased from a
Future Farmers of America student and they were field grown plants
with roots, etc. and someone told me that the two that did come up
some but did not bloom may bloom next summer. I really didn't
understand what I was buying very well.

I live in Jackson. All three plants need no special care for winter. The
Bleeding Heart grows in the woods behind my house.
Betsy