Farm How to winterize plants?

[bluelady]

I'm sure this has been discussed but wasn't able to find it.

I'm only a wanna-be gardener at best. Plus we are in the process of moving and simply don't have time. But I made the mistake of visiting garden departments this summer, thinking I'd pick up a couple of herbs. I ended up with a bunch of plants, most of which I've managed to keep alive.

Suddenly last night it went down to 40! Nothing that low is forecast in the next couple of weeks, but I need to figure out how to winterize them before a frost surprises me.

I have several rosemary plants which I put in pots and are doing great in a fairly sunny spot on the south side of the house; I water them heavily about once a week. Don't have a greenhouse (yet). Have heard to plant them in the ground/bury the pots, then mulch well. Or would some kind of hoop cover help? I had lavender which supposedly is treated the same as rosemary, but apparently not because they all died.

I also have peppermint, spearmint, stevia, and lemon balm which I think would all be treated about the same as each other. They are doing fine on the same side of the house as the rosemary but in the shade under trees, and up on the doghouse (the ones I set on the ground were devoured by earwigs.) With them are chives, one echinacea, and two blueberries. I've been watering them faithfully every day, but haven't repotted any of them yet.

I knew my impulse buys would come back to haunt me, but I just couldn't resist...LOL! I've been googling, but it's kind of overwhelming and I'd love to hear from someone in my climate (zone 7a eastern OR) who has successfully kept these types of plants alive through the winter.

 

[naturallysweet]

The mints are fine outside. The Stevia will die with the first. So inside or Stevie funeral.

Wait for a frost to winterize the blueberries and Echinacea, then heavily mulch them.

We are supposed to have a warm dry winter here in Oregon. So all the perennials should survive this year.

Ps - Stop watering so much. Plants need to be encouraged to have deep roots. Which means infrequent , but deep watering. I only irrigated my absolutely loaded tomato patch 3 times this summer. (Willamette valley)

 

[bluelady]

Yeah, the stevia seems more tender than the mints. I'll have to put up a grow light inside, because we don't have much light and we don't keep the house very warm in winter. Warmer than outside, though!

I'm only watering that much because (except for rosemary) they're still in the little plastic pots they came in. I haven't planted them in the ground because...well, I got busy with other things, plus I didn't know where they'd do well so I wanted to be able to move them. Not sure whether I should plant them in the ground now with protection, or put them in pots so I can move them if necessary.

We're on the "dry side", kind of the opposite of the Willamette Valley I think. Our average low here is below freezing for 4-5 months, and our average annual rainfall is maybe 10". Everything dries out fast, I guess that's why the lavender died because it didn't tolerate the wait for water as well as the rosemary. I hope to get a back-to-eden cover in this fall/winter so should be able to water less next year for plants in the ground.

 

[naturallysweet]

Yeah, the stevia seems more tender than the mints. I'll have to put up a grow light inside, because we don't have much light and we don't keep the house very warm in winter. Warmer than outside, though!

I'm only watering that much because (except for rosemary) they're still in the little plastic pots they came in. I haven't planted them in the ground because...well, I got busy with other things, plus I didn't know where they'd do well so I wanted to be able to move them. Not sure whether I should plant them in the ground now with protection, or put them in pots so I can move them if necessary.

We're on the "dry side", kind of the opposite of the Willamette Valley I think. Our average low here is below freezing for 4-5 months, and our average annual rainfall is maybe 10". Everything dries out fast, I guess that's why the lavender died because it didn't tolerate the wait for water as well as the rosemary. I hope to get a back-to-eden cover in this fall/winter so should be able to water less next year for plants in the ground.

Mulch, mulch, mulch, and then more mulch. My tomatoes were in a filled under clover pasture with A decade worth of cow, goat, and chicken fertilizer.

Btw - it's didn't rain this summer. We are only now starting to get a few tiny drizzles. But the ground is still dry. Deep roots and lots of organic matter is the key.

 

[summerthyme]

The mints will survive 30 below (at least, they do here), so no worries. Rosemary is fine until it get down to 10°F... if you don't see that in your zone, it should be fine outside.

Depending on your climate, the two biggest killers of plants over the winter are either dessicating winds, or too much moisture. Where you are, your best "protection" would be to deeply water the plants just before they go dormant, mulch the heck out of them (but DO NOT put the mulch right up to the stems... it's mouse heaven and they may strip the plants bare... leave at least 4-6" around the plant "bare" to provide less cover for rodents) and then lightly wrap them with burlap or other cloth which "breathes".

Because of our bitter winters, I've given up overwintering mature rosemary plants. I take cuttings in late fall, root them over the winter, and by spring have half a dozen thriving small plants under plant lights, which is sufficient for our needs.

Reading your subsequent responses, your biggest problem with the mints, including the lemon balm, is likely to be your lack of water. Around here, peppermint and other mints grow wild near streams and ponds... they like "wet feet". So, again, water thoroughly, mulch heavily, and if you get breaks in the weather, especially if it warms up much, consider watering during the winter as well.

Summerthyme

 

[bluelady]

Thanks, Summerthyme, burlap sounds like a good idea. We can get fierce winds so I'm keeping everything near the house. We can get below zero at times, but not too often. I have several pots of rosemary so I think I'll try different things with it: in the ground, in a pot, in the house, maybe one in some kind of cold frame. I'll try to keep cuttings alive in our house with grow lights. It's all an experiment, but I hope to come out in the spring with at least some alive!!

Right now I have leaves or straw for mulch; would either or both be best, or something else?

With the mints, I'm thinking of planting them in pots and burying those in the ground, so if they survive they don't spread everywhere. And hopefully that would help retain moisture. We actually have a seasonal drainage stream behind our house, so if I'm brave enough to go down there (it's mucky!) I may try planting some mint down there next year.