o man, what I would give for 2 acres!!! could you imagine 2 acres of brugs..heeeaaveen!!
Congrats on your burgs and welcome!
If I were you in your location I would put them in ground. I wish I could put mine inground and leave em. Just thinking about bringing them in is hell.
Also, I don't think you would have to cut them back other than to take cuttings, and prune to your desire. If you are worried about them inground the first year, just mulch them good, but I think they should be fine.
I am sure someone in your zone will put their comment on here soon. Good luck!
Daniella

You have the perfect zone for inground brugs. Does your open area have any afternoon shade? Many brugs do better with some protection from the strong afternoon sun but most will adapt if need be. As for cutting the brugs back do you get any stretches of freezing temps or just an occasional frost? If it's just an occasional frost I wouldn't worry about cutting them back. The frost will kill foliage and some new growth but the plant will recover quickly. If you get longer periods of freezing temps then I'd cut back all the soft growth and mulch well.
Karyn

Amelia, did you say you lived near Baton Rouge? I think I saw that and then don't remember if I got to respond or not. I have family there and used to live in St. Francisville. I used to keep many tropicals there on the porch with a little protection from cold wind but do remember a couple of winters where the top of the pond froze over some. I think its a little warmer in the city. We were usually 5-10 degrees cooler in the winter. You can put them in the ground regardless but whether or not you get actual freezes will depend if you need to cut them back. I doubt you would get too many long periods of freezing there if I remember correctly.

A little more info...

I have many areas that receive sun but afternoon shade. The largest area is off my patio. :)

FREEZES - Yes, we do have occasional freezes. Usually, the temp drops below freezing (28° - 31° F) during the night but the day is above freezing. Normally, this doesn't happen more than 2 or 3 nights in a row. We might get these "cold spells" 3 or 4 times a year. Very rarely, we will have freezing temperatures for 2 to 3 days. (1963, 1985, and 1989 are the years I remember. Palms were killed in 1963 and 1989.) The ground never freezes.

I have to agree with Karyn, it's doable and one should have a back up plan for when freeze hits. Certain ones can take some cold but some can't at all so you will have
to plan or know which ones will work out best where. A cover of some sort would be wise for the cooler nights. Read up and do you selections wisely, you can do this!

I grew brugs in the ground and in pots in S. LA with no problem. They absolutely love it there. As long as the ground is not too soggy they should be fine. If it is, you could always do raised beds..

I have several plants that require covering on those cold nights. Old quilts and blankets work well.

The yard around the house and patio is 5 to 6 feet higher than the surrounding area. (Great when there is backwater flooding -- we get a "U" around our house.) Therefore, the front and side yards drain well. This would be perfect for planting the brugs just off the patio.

I was also gonna add that if you are trying to keep the foilage on yours standards without them dying back: this is what I did there. Get one of those cheap screen rooms that have a canvas top on them from walmart or somewhere. They go on sale in the fall too. Set it up and put the brugs in there. They will keep growing at a slow pace and wont die back as long as the frost doesn't touch the leaves. I had to reinforce the sides a little due to the wind in the winter but it always worked.

On the few nights it dipped into the lower 20's I went out and put flannel sheets or old blankets around the pots. I kept many tender tropicals in there that were much more tender than brugs and never lost any.

Actually, I have an old tent - 20' x 20' x 8' I think. Large screened top, 3 large screened "windows," and a screened door. I still have the rain cover for it also. I was thinking of putting my tropicals in there with pine straw on the floor. I would use heat lamps and the rain cover in the very cold weather. If they weren't getting enough light, I could add some fluorescent lights.
I really, REALLY want a greenhouse. I don't need a permanent one, just one of the temporary ones. Essentially a tent with translucent sides and top.
BTW, I hate hurricanes. I had to move almost 300 potted plants into protected areas. Filled my sunroom; put some along the walls of the carport; put the others along the walls where the house forms an "L" on the southwest side. Didn't lose many plants but it was a lot of work. Still moving plants. Actually, we're back on cleaning up limbs and trees today.
I'm getting a lot of good advice. It's great to have someone familiar with the area/climate chiming in.
Thanks,
Amelia

You are so right about the dates now that I looked at the years. One of those was the freaky year that the pond froze on top and we had big ice burgs floating down the Mississipi River. I think that was either 85 or 89. I went duck hunting in the swamp and got so cold I was piling dead ducks on top of me in the boat coming back down the river in the boat. Yep, its doable in your area now that I know where you live.

That had to be 1989! That was the year it snowed 100 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico.

I wasn't actually here for that freeze. I was in northwestern Ohio! Needless to say, it was colder there. We had gone there to spend Christmas with my husband's family. We lost ALL of the plumbing in our house while we were gone. Even the drains burst. We spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day replacing the pipes.

I have been thinking about doing that covered canopy thing for a little while now. I'm shocked to see that you've been doing this and it has worked so well for you! I am so happy to see I was thinking in the right direction! Thanks for posting and all the good info!

~Angela

Yep, I lived in a trailer then and all the pipes busted. All the later years I lived there it never got very cold except the occasion day or two of cold like you are talking about. I had a lemon tree in the yard there and built a three sided wooden arbor around it and grew vines on that during the summer and if we had a cold spell coming I got an old piece of carpet padding and made like a tube around it and put a blanket over the top. Never lost any blooms or anything. I even grew tomatoes in the ground year round by covering them like that one year. We get so much cold wind here I can't grow as much outside during the winter. The cold wind cuts right through you. I need to get a dang windmill and put it in my backyard. Its windy here all the dang time, lol. During the summer the wind feel like a blow dryer though. No help at all, lol.