There’s nothing like a few potted plants to make your patios, decks and porches come alive.  Unfortunately, this type of vegetation is also susceptible to extremes of weather than those planted in the ground.

You can protect smaller potted plants by bringing them indoors when the temperatures start to dip.  But for potted deciduous trees, you’ll need to winterize them just after the tree has lost most of its leaves.  In Austin, this usually happens around the end of November/early December.

Prep the tree and pot

Tie the branches of your potted tree together gently with some twine or other light but sturdy cord.  Water the tree thoroughly and then cover the top of the soil with 2 to 3 inches of mulch, straw or leaves.

Make a chicken wire “tree cage”

 Take enough chicken wire to build a cylinder around the prepped potted tree.  The structure should be tall enough to cover the entire tree without crowding the branches. Secure the cylinder with zip ties or wire.  Then stuff the cage from top to bottom with straw or leaves.

Wrap everything up

Wrap the cage with burlap sacking to prevent the stuffing from falling out of the cage.  Then secure the burlap to the cage with twine or cord.  When finished, cover the top of the cage with a plastic bag.  You can unwrap your tree-cage as soon as spring arrives and reuse the mulch/leaves/straw around your garden.

Tending trees and plants of any kind is a job that never ends.  That’s why South Austin Irrigation is here: to help you maintain your lawn and garden no matter the season.  We offer irrigation system inspection and repair services.

For the service more Austinites trust, contact us today!

 

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Using potted plants as part of your landscaping scheme can add beauty to your outdoor environment even in the dead of winter.  And the good news is container gardening does not differ significantly from gardening in general.

To get started, you’ll need to buy pots that have good drainage and are also frost-proof. Containers made of fiberglass, metal or stone resist low temperatures especially well.

The soil should also have good drainage.  If you decide to put two or more different plants in a single container, make sure they have similar growing requirements.  Be aware that you’ll need to repot your plants every two to three years to ensure they don’t get root-bound.

Some good choices for container plants include:

Sedium spurium

Decorative in appearance, sedium spurium produces scallope-edged reddish-bronze foliage all year long and blooms in the summer.  It grows to approximately half a foot in height and thrives in full sun.  However, it can also tolerate partial shade.

Variegated redtwig dogwood

This deciduous plant produces dark red branches and variegated leaves with white margins and gray-green centers.  To keep it looking beautiful, be sure to remove old branches after winter has passed.

Heucheras

Heucheras are colorful, low-growing plants that produce white, pink and red flowers.  Its foliage is shot through with silver veins that run through green or purple leaves.  This plant can tolerate full sunlight to full shade.

Golden sword yucca

The foliage on this variety of yucca is shaped like a 2-inch wide sword that is dark green with a golden center.  The margins of its leaves produce curly fibers.  It can grow to between 2 and 3 feet tall and produces a 3 to 6 foot flowering stalk in summer.  The golden sword yucca prefers full sunlight but can tolerate some shade.

Winter landscaping doesn’t have to be dull.

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