Seems like bungee cords should work with those handled buckets some how. Hmmmm.......have to think a little harder!

Sherry

I only have two potted hostas. The rest are in the ground. I am in SC z8. Do I put a cover over my hostas or put them in plastic containers like you? Do you close the plastic containers?

Farm girl, don't cover your pots unless you have a really wet environment. Esther gets lots of snow, and lots of freezing and thawing accompanies the snow. You don't have that. Just put your pots out where they can get rain and are in the shade.

I keep mine on pot feet, which usually solves the problem of slugs and snails in spring. I think it helps drainage, but the experts say it doesn't. I don't think it hurts drainage, though.

bk

Ha! They forecast a dry and sunny day today in yesterday's weather. Really? It's drizzling and flurrying. So I won't put the pot-tops in place until the pots have had a decent chance to dry out. If I only had to secure them from the wind and the elements to keep them in place, it would be a simple thing to secure them. But I am very much afraid the garbage-on-two-legs (the maintenance men) will steal them and throw them away. I intend to drill some holes in the sides of the 2 smaller bowls to render them useless for other purposes, but am (for the moment) stymied as to how to render the larger rubber tote/bucket with the handles useless other than to cover my 18" pot.

Got any ideas?

I should write a book: growing a beautiful garden in NYC DESPITE squirrels uprooting your plants (surrounding them with rocks WORKS!), lowlife maintenance men stealing and throwing away your garden stuff, common thieves stealing your garden decor objects, trashy neighbors who insist on placing kitschy 99 cent store items in your carefully planned and groomed garden, and a third-rate "landscaping company" whose ignorant minions chip your fencing, trample your plants, and prefer to plow under a garden vs. replanting a new tree so it would be easier for them to just mow straight rather than have to move a few feet to the left or right.

But I shall persevere!

Happy Thanksgiving, Hostapeople!

Happy Thanksgiving, Esther.

bk

My husband says it is possible to drill a hole in your ceramic pot so that you could thread a strong wire through it and then to your plastic tote bucket to secure it. If you are not comfortable drilling a hole in the ceramic pots, then how about finding a tent(?) stake to put into the ground. You could then attach the wire to the plastic tote and then to the stake.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American hosta forum members!

Newhostalady,

There is already a drainage hole in the bottom of all the pots. Problem is, there is 12-16" of soil currently in the pot, so finding those holes would be a bit of a challenge. I also thought of that, running some airline cable through the hole and through holes in the bowls. I have many plastic tent stakes piled up outside under the bushes. However, I am afraid the "landscape workers" or the nasty maintenance men would simply pull them up and discard or steal my plastic bowls. I may have to wiggle a metal stake or something up through those drainage holes to make a channel for working some airline cable through.

Oddly enough, even though we've had several days of below 32 or just about 32 degree weather, only the hosts really look brown and blasted. The heuchies are only mildly affected. The mini snapdragons and the calibrachoa also do not seem terribly affected. I already moved my geraniums into dry storage in paper bags in my unheated storage area.

Therefore, I will wait until the potted Georgia Peach heuchie looks truly dead before I apply the pot cap on its pot. The mini hosts in the 18" ceramic pot and the adjacent Wheee! in its pot are already good and dead for the season, so I have no hesitation to cap their pots with the plastic bowls somehow.

Hi Esther,

In zone 7 here in North Carolina heucheras are evergreen.

Kathy

So are they here in zone 5 in the north. They don't "disappear" like most perennials when they go dormant. Love them! Good to see you posting Esther!

Jo

Esther, if I understand the situation correctly, I would thread a wire with a large washer through the bottom of the tote (top of the apparatus). Then, I would feed the wire down each side of the pot to the hole and would secure the wire outside the bottom of the pot with another washer.

You might have to pop the hosta out of the pot to thread the wire. My experience is that hosta are one huge mass in the middle. You might have a hard time threading it down through the middle.

It might take some muscle to turn the pot over and accomplish this, so a nephew might be required.

bk

forgive my poor drawing skills

bk

Awww, bkay, I am very touched that you took the trouble to draw a diagram. And it's fine, it does the trick, so don't stress yourself about your "artistic skills".

I am thinking that I could use a hot screwdriver to punch some holes in the side of the plastic bowls and rubber tote--first, to make the necessary holes and second, to RUIN them for anyone else's possible use, thus making them less attractive to steal. Then take some longish bungee cords and hook one end in these holes and the other end into the drainage holes of the pots. Would only take tipping them.

NB: I don't have a nephew to help me with this. And the neighbors who might be able to help me have hightailed it out of town for the long weekend. I think I could tip the pot and lean it on something like a shoebox, and accomplish the necessary that way.

My ONLY worry is that malicious humans will remove the pot covers.

IF there is a chance of some vandalism, a deterrent might be a motion sensor placed near it? Perhaps a solar type? Or does that make it more enticing to hooligans?

Bk, great drawing!

Jo

Esther, I was suggesting you drill new holes near the top of your ceramic pots. That way you would not have to tip the pot and remove the soil. If you are not able to drill the holes in the pot now, perhaps you could find someone that could do that for you at another time. I think it would make attaching any covering simpler and would be a tighter fit.

Also, the stakes I was thinking of were more of a heavy duty type and longer in length. But if your ground doesn't freeze, then I suppose they would be quite easy to pull out.

I am a believer that when there is a will, there is a way. I am sure you will be able to find something you are pleased with to do the trick. I understand that you just want to make it difficult to remove the top to discourage someone from coming along and wandering off with it.

Newhostalady. It is very hard to drill the edge of a pot. You can drill the bottom because it's flat. What you do is build a "well or dam" of clay around the place for the hole, about 11/2 inches out. You then fill the well with water and drill the hole through the water. The water keeps the clay cool enough to keep the pot from cracking, usually. My ex had a woodshop back in the 70's. Part of his business was building lamps that used Chinese and Japanese porcelain. The vases had to be drilled to accept the lamp rod. That's the way he did it.

I can't imagine that drilling clay pots is much different.

bk

Bk, first I have to say that I am no expert on drilling. My husband has the no how (through his dad who used to work in construction). His dad knew how to fix just about everything!

Having said that, I have referred to my husband again. He says that what he agrees that the method your ex used was a very good and skilled one. He definitely knew what he was doing.

There are a couple of differences though that my husband pointed out:

(1) Porcelain is harder than ceramic.

(2) The vases that your ex needed to drill through were much thicker than the ceramic pot and

(3) Drill bits have been improved and can be used to drill holes in ceramic.

Also, it is not suggested that a hole be placed very near the top of the pot. The hole should be drilled with enough clearance from the top of the pot to help prevent cracking. The hole would also have to be above soil level. The plastic container covering the ceramic pot should also cover up or almost cover the drilled hole. This would be to prevent water from entering the hole, freezing and then cracking the pot.

Of course, someone with drilling experience should do the job. There is always a risk that the pot could crack so that should be considered when deciding to proceed.

NHL, you could be right. My second hand experience is very old, and I've never personally done it. I just don't think drilling a hole in the edge would be easy.

I think you have mixed up porcelain and ceramic. Porcelain is very thin - think real china dishes vs. ceramic plates (that would be like Fiesta ware).

bk

I am not about to drill holes in my pots. I am quite sure the ceramic would crack. What I intend to do it to get some approx. 20" bungee cords at Home Depot tomorrow, make some holes in the sides of the plastic bowls about 2" from the rim (this also renders the bowls useless for other purposes), loop the bungee cord hooks through the holes in the plastic bowls, and then loop them into the bottom drainage holes of the pots. I will also label the plastic bowls "Winter Plant shelter to protect pot from cracking from the cold---to be removed in the spring". I will bet you that the nasty maintenance men will steal the bowls and throw them away. Plan B: covering the bowls with white plastic vinyl and duct taping all around to keep the plastic on.

Great illustration Esther! Looks like the bungee cords will hold the top securely over your ceramic pot. If your pot disappears, you will know that someone removed it intentionally! I sure hope that doesn't happen.

If I were to see your ceramic pot and covering this winter, I know I would be saying this to myself: "Someone who lives here loves their plants and garden. Wasn't that clever of them to figure out how to cover their pot!"

Plan A observation:
I'm concerned about ventilation with the bowl sitting directly on the pot top lip.

Possible remedy:
Some sort of spacers under the bowl & around the pot top lip. Perhaps foam water pipe insulation, cut in short 1" pieces, slip pieces over the pot's top lip, space apart, add the bowl on top. This might allow air/moisture movement.

Plan B observation:
Over time duct tape will leave an ugly residue on your pots.

Possible remedy:
Applying the duct tape under the pot to hide any residue.

Here is a link that might be useful: link to a pic of what foam pipe insulation looks like

Hi, DGregory!

What you don't know is that I have aluminum stakes holding ID tags for the mini hostas within the pots. They will provide a bit of clearance for air circulation because the bowl will rest on them. As for the duct tape plan, if I have to go there, I will wrap the duct tape OVER the white vinyl sheeting, so that there will be no duct tape residue on the pots. And if there was, GOO-GONE is great for getting rid of tape residues.

Newhostalady,

Thank you. I used Adobe Illustrator to make the diagram.

I only WISH someone would see my covered pots and say, "Someone who lives here loves their plants and garden. Wasn't that clever of them to figure out how to cover their pot!" Instead, they would say, "Oh, that is not in compliance with co-op rules, I must remove the bowls and throw them in the garbage!" or "Gee, what nice bowls. I think I'll take them."

Even the stinking squirrels who dig up every plant not surrounded by sturdy rocks would not steal the bowls just to be nasty!

Esther, have you ever heard of a "deadman?"
It is a board (in your case) or a huge timber (in the case of a dock) which is buried crossways in the ground, and the pull of the mooring bit is perpendicular to it.

Such a thing could be rigged by a 12 inch paver with a hole in the middle, or even a rigid piece of plastic with a hole in it, and you "button" a cable through this, bury it beneath your pot as deeply as you can, thread the cable into the bottom of your pot, and securely button it there. Nobody will make off with your pot.

You can at least make them work to take it away from you.

Don't know about the bucket, Hope you solve that problem happily.

Mocc,

Great idea...if your pots are empty. Mine are full of soil, plants, and anti-squirrel rocks. It would be a supreme PIA to do that. One could also bury one of those twisty dog time-out stakes to the hilt and use some thin airplane cable and washers through the drainage hole. Bottom line, if someone wants to remove the pot really badly, they could, no matter what you did. I'd love to have some sort of mechanism which would explode and spray red ink all over anyone who tried to steal my pots or bowls.

Yeah, and a variation that would work on anyone who whacks your mailbox with a bat while they drive by. I've learned to buy black mailboxes because they are harder to see at night.

Kathy

Yeah, and a variation that would work on anyone who whacks your mailbox with a bat while they drive by. I've learned to buy black mailboxes because they are harder to see at night.

Kathy