What to do with unplanted trees before winter
Bringing unplanted outdoor plants inside usually fails because homes are too warm and the plants require a cold rest. Leaving the exposed pots on a covered patio can also result in the plants dying during frigid temperatures. A successful alternative is to simply bury the pots in the ground to protect them until you can plant them next year.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
What to do with unplanted trees before winter
- 1Planting the tree in the ground immediately, regardless of the frost, as long as the ground can still be dug.Did this help you?
- 2Burying the entire pot in the ground and adding heavy mulch so the earth's thermal mass insulates the roots.Did this help you?
- 3Moving the potted plant indoors (though heavily advised against as it disrupts the plant's natural dormancy).Did this help you?
- 4Winter them over in the ground temporarily.Did this help you?
- 5Keep them on a covered patio pushed up against the house.Did this help you?
- 6Throw a cheap comforter over them to protect the roots.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I bought a dwarf sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana var. australis) in the dead of July and then realized it was way too hot to plant it. It’s been hanging out on my deck, seemingly pretty happy, getting watered regularly. I changed jobs, my schedule got crazy, and I just realized that we’re coming up on the first frost and I haven’t gotten this dang tree in the ground. Is it crazy to pot it and keep it indoors over the winter and then plant it in the spring?”source ↗
“It is scrumptious but did not make it through last year's frigid winter.”source ↗
“For context I've bought stuff late in season and just buried the pots to worry about it next year, I haven't lost anything that way yet.”source ↗
“I have tried wintering them over indoors and it is just too warm, they need a cold rest.”source ↗
“If the winter is REALLY frigid, a few might be lost even though they are on a covered patio”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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