Tender perennial care

It’s time to help tender varieties through winter, says Ruth

- Ruth Hayes

AS temperatures drop further it is time to move some of your tender perennials into the relative snugness of a greenhouse or cool porch.

Even here in the balmy south of the UK, pelargoniums, gazanias, fuchsias and agapanthus are all at risk of succumbing to winter’s chill so start making room for them in the greenhouse and taking cuttings to grow through winter in case any of the parent plants don’t make it through.

I wrap pots of fuchsias in fleece and move them to the greenhouse, leaving the plants alone until spring, when I will hard prune and re-pot them.

Our potted deciduous agapanthus are similarly swaddled, then laid on their side somewhere sheltered outside to avoid the compost becoming waterlogged during heavy rain.

Waterlogged compost drives out the oxygen needed by roots, effectively drowning the plant, and if it freezes it will expand and crack containers.