Gardencentreonline.co.uk Release Advice On Wintering Vulnerable Plants

Hardy and resistant plants sometimes experience problems when faced with extremely cold or windy weather. Gardencentreonline.co.uk have released advice to their customers on protecting their investments during the volatile winter period

Leyland (I-Newswire) February 6, 2013 - A good number of the more popular plants are well adapted to the winter weather, though the more tender specimens can commonly be killed in the face of a sudden frost. The UK recently emerged from one such event which lasted an entire week, and more are expected before February becomes to a close. In light of this, Gardencentreonline.co.uk are releasing advice on wintering vulnerable plants considered at risk during the season.

Larger specimens require more specialist wintering techniques. They cannot be moved to sheltered areas, and would need to be smaller for effective mulching. Garden Centre Online advise wrapping larger plants when frost first starts appearing. Trees and shrubs are often strong enough to stay upright, so wrapping them in an organic material will suffice. Surround them with straw and secure it with wire to keep the insulation attached. If there’s a risk of heavy snow then consider tying a bag of some sort over the top to serve as a lid.

Smaller plants are often unable to take this kind of strain, likely to collapse under the weight of insulation if they lack a trunk, at the risk of damaging or killing the plant altogether. Garden Centre Online advise customers to invest in cheap bamboo canes and string. With a little time these can be used to build a latticed cage over the plant, either a cylinder or cone, and then drive it firmly into the ground as far as you can. Once these are filled with straw they’ll be protected from the cold and the wind without putting any pressure on the vulnerable plant itself.

Container grown plants are subject to the same treatment as the above two, depending on their size. However an additional note shared by the company is to secure bubble wrap around the container itself as insulation and protection. If the container freezes it stands a chance of breaking or damaging the plant.

A representative commented on their advice. “As you might expect we have a lot of gardeners shopping with us. Continuing to disseminate advice to help them over the winter season is a valuable part of our service.”

Gardencentreonline.co.uk are a Leyland based supplier of gardening and planting accessories. By spreading advice they hope to continue supporting their customer base as well as possible.