Winterizing potted strawberries and roses?

**DrNic** · 10-12-2009, 09:10 PM

I have 3 potted roses (about 2.5 to 3 feet tall) and 3 large window boxes of great strawberries that I would like to winterize for growing next season but I've never done this before.

For the roses, I was going to trim them down to about 12-18 inches and put them in our garage.

I wasn't sure what to do about the strawberries though.

Any suggestions would be awesome!!

**Tetris** · 10-13-2009, 01:27 AM

Tell them to suck it up and quit being pansies...

**Lolita** · 10-13-2009, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by Tetris

Tell them to suck it up and quit being pansies...

LOL

Are the strawberries potted? I live in MA too and keep stawberries. If they're potted, bring them inside somewhere so they won't freeze. The leaves will probably still die, but if the roots are kept warm enough they'll come back next year.

=D Hope that helps.

Edit: if they aren't potted, I've heard covering them with straw to keep them warm/protected from the wind is the way to do it. That's where they got their name supposedly! xD

**vegas2k** · 10-13-2009, 05:08 PM

when I lived in a place that had snow, and strawberry farms..they always put down a lot of hay to cover them up, I think too.

**violet** · 10-13-2009, 05:15 PM

I've put plastic black garbage bags over them in the past. works as a green house like affect keeping heat in and cold out :D

**dmagerl** · 10-13-2009, 10:38 PM

Strawberries absolutely wont overwinter in a pot, at least here in NE Illinois they dont.

You can do what you're doing with the roses, put them in the garage, or you can dig a hole and sink the entire pot in the ground for the winter, or you can put it in your fridge :-)

The problem is that any prolonged sub freezing weather kills the roots, something that doesnt happen if they are in the ground.

Just make sure you keep everything watered in the garage. Things tend to dry out during the winter. I usually just go out and grab a handfull of snow and let it melt in the pot.

**DrNic** · 10-14-2009, 02:46 PM

Thanks for the replies. Everything is in the garage or our store room, both of which should stay above freezing unless it gets REALLY cold outside.

Looking around online I see that burying the pots seems pretty common. Unfortunately we rent, and moreover I think we'll be moving sometime this winter.