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Planting Phormeums in Winter

hopkinspgmhopkinspgm Posts: 3
in Plants
Afternoon all, 
I have a customer wanting to plant Phormeums around the outside ohlf her house, south facing. She'd prefer them in the ground asap but we're worried it may be too late and cold.
They will also be covered with a out 3 inches of Gravel too so I thought this would maybe give enough protection for them to be planted now, just wondered what everyone's thoughts were to planting them now with the Gravel covering their bases.
Tia
Craig

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    If there's no frost forecast for the next four or five days [approx] and the plants are potted and of a decent size, they'd be fine.
    They'd only need watered in initially, and then they'd be fine left to their own devices as there should be adequate moisture over winter for them. 
    I'm also assuming the site is properly prepped though. If the soil isn't well draining, that will affect their establishment, and would need amended first. 

    Gravel is fine around them, but I'm not sure why they'd need that kind of depth.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • hopkinspgmhopkinspgm Posts: 3
    The Gravel is already there it's just a case of adding the phormeums to make it look less plain. That's OK then as I didn't want them to struggle going in straight away from their pots.
    Thank you. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Ah - I see @hopkinspgm. In that case, just make sure the planting holes and drainage are suitable for them   :)
    They're pretty tough plants, but wet cold is what they don't like. They'll cope with quite low temps for long periods as long as the drainage is ok.  Most of my Phormiums are in raised beds or containers to counteract all of that.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • hopkinspgmhopkinspgm Posts: 3
    Ah right, yeah these will be going straight into the ground but figured the Gravel will protect the base and roots from the frost anyway. Yeah she believes it quite clay based so will just work some compost and sharp sand in to the holes before planting. 
    Thanks again. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It isn't really frost that's the main problem for them - it's their roots sitting in wet, cold soil [especially clay] with poor drainage that affects them most.  

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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