Return to the Ohio Valley Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
How To Overwinter Sage and Strawberries
| | |
Posted by chip65 northern kentucky (My Page) on Mon, Oct 29, 07 at 13:25
Hi all, just trying to get a handle on what to do with my sage and strawberries over the winter. I've grown sage for years and was always told to just leave it alone for the winter but every year I would have about an 80% die off (some years 100%). So, I have a very nice new plot and want to know what to do with it. I was told to get large garden cover pots (as for roses) and cover it with that, but it's a fairly large plot.
As for the strawberries, this is the first year my small plant even made it to winter and it has done pretty well, spreading out to about 6 feet radius. Again, I have no clue what to do with this plant to ensure a good one next year. Any help or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks,
Chip
|
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: How To Overwinter Sage and Strawberries
| | |
- Posted by bakemom z6 Central Ohio (My Page) on
Tue, Oct 30, 07 at 17:39
| Up here in Columbus, I do nothing. That being said, my backyard is somewhat sheltered. My sage is turning into a huge bush AGAIN! This is a baby I transplanted from the mother plant that I removed. Perhaps this is just good genes. |
RE: How To Overwinter Sage and Strawberries
| | |
| I would heap some compost and/or chopped oak leaves around the crowns of the plants. This is what I do with my hybrid tea roses and I dont have much dieback. Good luck! Jen |
RE: How To Overwinter Sage and Strawberries
| | |
| There is a reason they are called strawberries: you grow them with straw! In order to protect them over the winter you can just cover them with a layer of straw maybe two to six inches thick depending on how bad the winter is where you live. This is a good idea in zones 6-7 (although clearly it isnt necessary as bakemom points out) and pretty much necessary in zones 5 and north (as I learned trying to grow them in Iowa). Straw works really well because its easy to handle and then becomes compost and mulch the next year; just make sure the strawberries are able to poke their heads back above the straw in the spring around March! Sage can get the same treatment although usually it survives okay. Most perennials benefit from some kind of protective dressing around the base in the winter, be it compost and oak leaves like tjsangel/Jen says, or straw (like with strawberries) or really any kind of mulch. Actually mulch is always your friend and a bale of straw only costs like $5 and goes a LONG way. |
|
|
|
|
