Preparing for winter in the garden

This is an update to a blog I first wrote in 2013 the first year I first started blogging, can't believe I've been writing it so long, David says there's a books worth but where to find the time........  I then updated it in 2017 and 2021, so its definitely time for an update, any hoo lets get protecting the garden for winter.

The nursery entrance November 2025

The snow and ice looks pretty and adds another element of interest to the garden and landscape through the winter months but it can also be damaging to all those plants we love to grow but aren’t always up to the worst of the Scottish weather (we all do it, I know I do 😊) Its always better to be prepared and have everything to hand and keep an eye on the weather forecast so we can get protection on the plants as soon as the temperature starts to drop. I will admit to having three weather apps on my phone!

The herb garden, November 2025

In the nursery at Quercus Garden Plants, on our exposed windy hill I like to start getting all the tenders undercover in the middle of October before we close for winter, then I can go on holiday and not be too worried about them.  Its not unusual to get snow flurries in October but it is getting rare, however it's the nippy frosts and prolonged minus temperatures that can do the most damage. Meanwhile at home the tenders go in my greenhouse and potting shed. But there's a wee bit work to do first before I can shifting the plants in.

~ Clean out the greenhouse - For me this means tidying and cutting back any plants already in the greenhouse, dead heading and removing any dead leaves. This reduces the chance of infection, mildew and botrytis and should be done regularly as part of greenhouse maintenance even in winter. Its a great job to do on a miserable weather day and you can still feel you are gardening. Once this is done I sweep up as I'm moving the plants about, brush down the benches and finally everything gets a good water. 

~ Putting up the bubble wrap on the greenhouses - This gives an extra layer of insulation for when it gets really cold. Although expensive to buy initially, its worth the investment. I bought bubble wrap for both my original greenhouses when I first got them 30 years ago and it lasted 27 years.  Now that is money well spent. Every spring the bubble wrap gets taken down and folded into sacks and stored in the potting shed. I have put bubble wrap up in the greenhouse, reducing the ceiling height to a flat layer to reduce heat loss and it means I'm heating a smaller area too. 

~ Move any tender plants into the greenhouse - Now the greenhouse is ready it makes it easier to move all the pots in from around the garden. Before I move them into the greenhouse they get a good tidy, dead headed and cut back if required. Fortunately there are enough hardy plants in pots on the patio that it doesn't look too bare through winter. Now that I have a much smaller greenhouse I have to put some of the larger borderline hardy plants in my potting shed where they get covered in fleece. The potting shed has a large window along one side so they aren't deprived of light.

~ Check the heater works before it is needed - It's easy to forget about the heating system until it really turns cold and frosty and by then the damage to plants can be done, I know I've done it myself! If you use gas, make sure your cylinders are full and what ever source of power you use, turn the heater on and make sure it works. Then you know you just have to nip out and switch it on if the nights turn cold. I tend to keep the greenhouse just frost free as that's all these plants really need. The heater is on when needed or on a thermostat and checked ever night to make sure it is working. 

~ Plants too big for the greenhouse -  Plants that are too big for the greenhouse have ready made fleece tents zipped on and the ceramic pots wrapped in bubble wrap. The roots are just as vulnerable to cold as they only have that thin layer of ceramic or terracotta and some compost to protect them. The fleece tents I am using at the moment ar excellent and weren't that expensive. I found them by chance in the middle isle of a certain supermarket on Orkney last year, I kid you not. I will be going in search or more (not on Orkney obviously but nearer to home).



 In my previous garden in the big heated greenhouse, bubble wrapped and packed with
all my tender plants for winter, at this point I used a gas heater

Bracken like Maisie always
liked to keep an eye on proceedings

Plastic toggles to attach the bubble
 wrap to the greenhouse

Bracken enjoyed the bubble wrap too, it made a good
cushion between his bum and the cold slabs!

Tidying the new greenhouse at home before
bubble wrap and heater going in with "help"

~ In the polytunnels - Even though we have the polytunnels and they can make a few degrees of difference to outside, they do still get cold if the temps really drop. We will lay one or two layers of fleece over a few select plants, these include the rosemarys, bay plants and eucomis in tunnel 1. We go around the nursery and gardens with a barrow and gather all the tender display specimen potted plants and get them into one of new polytunnels, yay! They are all grouped together in tunnel 4 and they get several layers of fleece draped over them all, with bubble wrap along the back between them and the polytunnel plastic. If it is to get drastically cold I will drop some bubble wrap over the top too, but not long term as the plastic can then cause plants to sweat and start rotting if on for too long.

Fleecing some of the more vulnerable
 sales plants in tunnel 1

Outside, our tough hardy plants are left to their own devices in the stock beds and gardens, and every year they help us prove we really do grow hardy plants, even when we have had winter temps down to -17! 

The stock beds in Novemeber 2025

Bamboo cloche in my last garden

~ Lifting tender plants in borders

Sometimes I plant out Pelargoniums, Dahlias, Salvias in the borders to fill in spaces and add extra interest through the year. In a mild winter up here these plants may make it through (just) but it's better to lift and pot them and encourage new growth and be able to use them again next year. 

If you’re concerned about protecting plants in the garden, you can cover their crowns with a layer of mulch. Almost any material will do—bark, compost, straw, or even hessian sacks—and it can all be worked into the soil when you tidy up in spring. The aim is simply to create a layer of insulation.

You can also use bamboo cloches - first, cut back the old stems and leaves, then pack fleece (or straw or hay, if you have it) around the crown. Finally, place the cloche over the packed material and secure it with canes. I’ve grown Agapanthus outdoors for many years. Given how exposed the garden is, this should be difficult, but the plants in the nursery borders—situated in the driest part of the garden—have survived very well with no protection because their roots are drier through the colder months.

Home made cloches over the alpine troughs in my last garden

Because my alpine troughs have lots of special little alpines that might be damaged in the damp and frost I used to cover them for winter, keeping them not necessarily warm, but dry. I made these cloches out of sheets or corrugated plastic. the length and width of the troughs, hinged at the apex with duct tape. They were then tied on with rope so they don't blow away (yes I did have to jump the fence and retrieve them from the neighboring field!). Now we are in a much more sheltered garden at least 200 feet lower, I don't cover the troughs.



Knocking snow off the shade tunnel

Other tasks to do include knocking snow off the tunnels, especially the shade tunnel in the sales area. Pushing the snow off from the inside usually with a broom helps take the weight off and stops the netting stretching. Plus the thinner layer of snow will melt quicker in the sun. Snow usually slides off the poly tunnels and isn't too much of a concern as they are single span. If the snow were to get over a foot deep I would have to take action. Having experienced the loss of many tunnels in the bad winters of 2009 and 2010 when I worked at Binny plants, its not a devastating experience any nursery owner wants to experience, we worked so hard to remove snow off all the multispans but it was beyond what we could have any effect on sadly. Along with our own losses to storms, its always challenging, nerve wracking and expensive! 

The Gunnera by the stream gets it's leaves cut off and
they are used to make a protective tent over the crown of the plant

The water system has been drained down, the pumps drained and then wrapped up in all those packets of wool insulation that comes with Maisie’s frozen food, more great recycling 😊

We put away all the demonstration planters and pots that need winter protection and the seats, ornaments and benches that benefit from being undercover. This helps prolong their life and slows down damage from the wet conditions we inevitability get here in Scotland. With everything ready hopefully the garden will survive our harsh upland winter and emerge in the spring as gorgeous as ever.

On holiday after another madly busy year

As for the Quirky Bird gardener in winter, she is either wrapped around a heater doing paper work, stock takes, updating the website and catalogue, planning for the coming year or having a holiday and days off, Yay! An opportunity to do Rona stuff, relax, plan for next year and hopefully a walk or two.

Hopefully where ever you are the frost is still a long way off. Keep warm!

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