How should I hole up my hostas & heuchies for the winter when I move?

2 years ago

Had a meeting with contractor at my little house-to-be yesterday, to show him what I want done. He thinks he can be finished by the end of January, so hopefully I could move in by about February 1. So, where would be the best place to place my potted hostas and heuchies until spring? The back of the house faces north. There is a large garden shed in back of the house with about 3-4' of space between it and the house, which could offer some shelter. I will erect a hardware cloth fence with a top around the bunched pots of plants, to avoid serving up a deer buffet.

Here is a shot of the back of the house. The large bushes on the eastern side of the house are gone now. Where should I store the pots of hostas in their fence/cage? Thanks!

Comments (5)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years ago
dormant hosta can be cut to the media level.. and i dont really see deer bare rooting them to eat roots..

same with the coral bells i would think ...

my biggest concern would be too much water in a pot with dormant plants.. so i would just lay them on their sides ... you will SEE when they start to sprout ... then just stand them up ... they will adjust if you are a little late doing so ...

chicken wire and a couple stakes would probably be cheaper than hardware cloth.. you dont really need strength... just deterrence ...

i would think the 3 foot stakes is good enough even after pounding in ... would probably adjust to what you chicken wire options are ...

and this stuff will cut you.. so gloves and long sleeves is best ...

you might not even need the stakes.. just lay it over and pin it to the ground .... kinda like a tunnel ... second pic: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=winter+chicken+wire+deer+protecting+pots&t=ffcm&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

ken
Esther-B, Zone 7a thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
2 years ago
Just to add place the pots on the north side of your home. Congratulations Esther! I know how long you have been looking for the perfect house.
Esther-B, Zone 7a thanked peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
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As to the garbage can idea---if you have it exposed to the sun at all, it's going to heat up. (Think how a car sitting the sun will heat up in the winter.) You don't want that. I'm familiar with zone 6 weather, having lived & gardened there for many years, so I have some idea of what you're dealing with...that is, you need to keep the soil cold when you get those weather warm-ups in mid-winter. i.e., the idea behind the insulation is to keep the heat out and the cold in the pots, to moderate the inevitable wide swings in temperature. (Think 'ice chest'.) If the pots are not in the sun, then the insulation board on top of the pots is prolly going to be sufficient. If the pots get any am't of sun OR are close to a bldg., then you need to think about keep the whole shebang cold. Naturally, you would place the insulation barrier around the pots after it's turned cold, really cold. About the wood tops idea...an inch of wood has an R-value of less than 1.5...compared to R-5 for an inch of XPS (the pink stuff) and R-8 for ISO (the foil faced yellow stuff). So, although wood is an insulator, there are better choices. Of course, you could glue XPS to the wood if you want to. Oh yeh, the pink stuff, XPS, will hold up to the elements much better than the foil faced ISO--it's yellow underneath the foil and is much more brittle than XPS. Also, the R-value of ISO degrades to where it's only marginally better than XPS.
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Esther-B, Zone 7a
Original Author
2 years ago
Ken, I already have half a roll of green vinyl coated hardware cloth laying around on my balcony. So, should I fabricate a protective cage on the northern side of the garden shed, which is about 8-10' wide and gets a southern exposure? Eventually I want to build a raised bed around the backyard perimeter and put the hostas in that, plus a fence and fishing line above that.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years ago
im wondering what you are calling hardware cloth??

this is what i am talking about: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=hardware+cloth&iax=images&ia=images

seems kind of heavy duty for the balcony ....

lets make sure we are on the same page ...

ken
Esther-B, Zone 7a thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
Esther-B, Zone 7a
Original Author
2 years ago
What I applied on my balcony was 1/4" vinyl clad green hardware cloth, yeah. I wanted it small enough so that little cat paws would not get caught trying to get through. One of my cats, very soon after I moved into my present apartment, casually strolled right through the upright bars on the balcony railing. I could easily create a corral of my leftover hardware cloth to put all the pots within until the spring, when I will have the opportunity to look into something more permanent, like raised beds. I would want to make those of salvaged bricks or stuff like that, not railroad ties, as they rot.

How should I hole up my hostas & heuchies for the winter when I move?

Comments (5)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada

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How should I hole up my hostas & heuchies for the winter when I move?

Comments (5)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada

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Esther-B, Zone 7aOriginal Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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Esther-B, Zone 7a
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