Overwintering Question

[Manmountain526]

All of my trees are in development and most of my trees are in pond baskets right now. I do not have a place that I can put them in the ground for protection. I also have three dogs and a small backyard as I live in a townhouse, so putting them on the ground without getting pissed on is a chance I'm not willing to take . I was wondering if I could wrap the pond baskets with burlap and then put mulch on the top to keep the trees cozy until spring. I am just worried about the cold winds and all of the holes in the pots. It seems that the roots would be at risk of damage. Thanks for the input.

 

[bonsaichile]

Do you have some sort of unheated storage? If not, you can use styrofoam coolers. Make some holes in the bottom for drainage, put the trees inside and mulch them up to their first branch.

 

[M. Frary]

cold winds

What cold winds?
Its Virginia.
I have trees in colanders outside on the ground all winter long.
No garage. Wouldn't use it if I had one.
South side of a building keeps the winds and sun off.
As for dog pee. Train them they atent to whiz on the trees. It can be done.

 

[Manmountain526]

What cold winds?
Its Virginia.
I have trees in colanders outside on the ground all winter long.
No garage. Wouldn't use it if I had one.
South side of a building keeps the winds and sun off.
As for dog pee. Train them they atent to whiz on the trees. It can be done.

lol. Thanks for the info. I was hoping someone from up north would chime in and let me know not to worry. I'll work on the not pissing when I can get them to stop eating each other's turds. lol

 

[rockm]

What cold winds?
Its Virginia.
I have trees in colanders outside on the ground all winter long.
No garage. Wouldn't use it if I had one.
South side of a building keeps the winds and sun off.
As for dog pee. Train them they atent to whiz on the trees. It can be done.

You have a distorted view of winters here. We have difficult winters, as temps can go from single digits to 90 and back down all in a 30 day span. That happened last winter. We had two days above 90 in February (and before that days well above 60) then an extended almost month long period of deep freezes in March. That rollercoaster Caused a lot of difficulty with my trees. I lost a couple to the rollercoaster.

Overwintering can depend on the species. Overall, most colder hardy species can be overwintered mulched deeply into a wind protected garden bed (eight or nine inches of mulch over the pot and up the trunk) I would NOT store trees in a southern exposure open to the sun. That's a death sentence as late winter sunshine will warm the soil and bring trees out of dormancy waaaay too early, typically resulting in either their death or the need to bring them inside for an extended amount of time (which can also lead to weakening and death).

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Shade, on the north side of a house, tall fence or other structure, on the ground. You want them to get cold and stay cold.