the first issue would be what type of leaves ... something like maple will crush and rot down .... making an air tight impermeable mat.. which MIGHT cause anaerobic rotting ... no air can get to the pots ...

if you remove that issue .... then its just a matter of not wanting them to get too early a start ....

if you do decide to remove the leaves .... leave the cage.. and get a tarp .... so you can cover them at night should they sprout early ... and you need to protect them from frost/freeze ....

you wouldnt have to remove all the leaves ... just enough to make sure that some soil in each pot is exposed to ambient air ...

good luck

ken

The leaves are ash and corkscrew willow, so curly and non-matting. I have used them successfully as a winter mulch on the other beds. The ash crush down to fragments quickly. (I was really planning ahead when I planted those trees, LOL)

Sounds like I should remove the leaves gradually, or loosen them up to let air get in.

I was caught out last fall too, but have no big veggie bed, so I put the pots right next to my entry walk, knowing it would be covered with snow. A few tall sticks told me when the snow was too low, and I would shovel more unto the pots.

A few weeks ago, the snow was suddenly gone. oooops, now what?
So I brought them all in the house. The sedum, iris and day lilies all greened up already. I suspect the rudbekia
might be dead. Still, a good save from my point of view.

Is there any way you could bring your many pots indoors?

Let us know the success rate linnea.
Pondy

It would be too warm in the house. I donÂt want them to have growth that is too fast and too soft (not to mention my house is quite full with the potted annuals I bring in every fall!) I know other people who have done this (overwintered them outside in their pots), I just donÂt know what to do next! I donÂt want to save them over winter and then have them succumb to a frost. I donÂt know how vulnerable plants are in pots as opposed to in the ground.

A frost certainly won't hurt them--they are perennials. If viciously cold temps (below 20) are over in your area, I'd say you could uncover them.

My pot ghetto is near the back of the house (facing east) and I uncovered most of them already, too impatient to check out how they were doing. They are still surrounded by bags of leaves for some protection. I also uncovered some of the perennials in the garden to check out how they were doing. We are still having frosts at night, so the tender green foliage that was protected by snow and leaves is getting nipped and has mostly turned a purply color. I am expecting that the crowns and roots of the plants will be okay though, since we are done with the extreme cold (thank goodness).

If most of the root area in the pots is below ground, then you have little to worry about. Actually, you might have one thing to worry about and that is rains forming puddles in the top part of the pots since the below ground part might still frozen. And these puddles on top can freeze to. What I've done to prevent that in the past is to create notches on the side of the pots so the water can drain out. If not, you might get crown rot on some of those perennials. Easy fix - just make sure that water can run off the top and not just sit there and freeze or simply just sit there while the root area of the pot is thawing.

In regards to the leaves on the top, remove a bit at a time. If you have no snow left, I'd take 1/2 off now and a bit more in a week, then a bit more, etc.

Mine are in our veggie bed too. It's an area right in the middle of the backyard. I do this every year. Since the ground is still frozen and some areas of the property still have snow, then there's no rush to uncover and move out at this time. Some are tilted to prevent water from staying on top and others are notched.