Have you been successful with your protection?

[jungle jas]

This year I tried a new method of protecting my plants which seems to have worked for me despite having more frosts than average this winter. Anything I wanted to protect over winter I first mulched with 300mm of Oak leaves to stop the frost penetrating into the soil then covering the plant with a large plant pot or a fleece bag depending on the size of the plant so far all plants look as if they have come through OK. What did you do and did it work or what did you lose.

[cordyman]

This year I tried a new method of protecting my plants which seems to have worked for me despite having more frosts than average this winter. Anything I wanted to protect over winter I first mulched with 300mm of Oak leaves to stop the frost penetrating into the soil then covering the plant with a large plant pot or a fleece bag depending on the size of the plant so far all plants look as if they have come through OK. What did you do and did it work or what did you lose.

I used banana leaves to mulch any tender palms, around the base of my Phoenix canariensis_CIDP for example. Then Haxnix fleece bags when the cold spell really hit.

Find banana leaves great as have a couple of wheelbarrows full when lopping the Musas and Ensetes back to overwinter

[Tom2006]

Everything outside seems fine. Lost two ensetes indoors though and The fronds on my c. Cooperi are dying in the heated polyhouse. I mulched some areas of the garden and when we dropped to -10c i wrapped and covered my palms and cordylines and used 1litre bottles full of hot water.

[bordersboy]

Yeh I did similar with my potted fruit trees and lilly pots this year.6 inches of leaves over the surface and during the frozen days the soil underneath was still soft. Will be doing the same again next year with the palms that had some extra mulch added around their bases this year that must have helped also .

[cordyman]

Oh I mulch my bamboo with banana leaves too. As it rots down feeds them too ready for the spring culms. They always thrive off it

[Mr List]

got my gunnera killipiana through the first bad bit of cold but i don't think i potected it well enough since all the snow went away.

think it might be a gonner.

[fern Rob]

I mulch the whole garden with bark every year.

[Blairs]

I mulch the whole garden with bark every year.

So do I, but have learned to pull a lot of it now-ish as the slugs love to hide in the damp undersides and munch on the spring foliage.

[shanks]

my washie seems ok with the tomato greenhouse i put over it
my new cordys that sprang from the old cut seem ok unprotected, agave, yucca seem ok in greenhouse and ensette i put in there and wrapped in fleece still seems to be solid but not removed fleece to have a look yet, verything else seems to have survived despite the many frosts and snow we had

[cheshirepalms]

I've had some damage, but a lot of palms look good still. I completely underestimated what winters low I would get, when I did my main tropical planting. Protection was only planned as a last resort, whereas the reality has been regular fleecing!

[fern Rob]

I have gone to extremes to get rid of slugs, when I lifted the old lawn it had tones of slug eggs under it, bark seems to be ok in my garden.

[gabriel]

Besides mulching, some fleece in Dicksonia antarctica'S crowns and wraping one basjoo nothing has been protected in my garden.
All look good though.

[dorothy]

Washy is protected with a rain cover and seems fine. Agave under shelter and palms I fleeced only when we had the really bad weather. Atm everything seems fine, no sign of any damage

[karl66]

Dot, i think you should run back down the shed for the fleece's, -3/4 sunday/monday night. karl.

[fern Rob]

All my plants ave been re covered.