I grow all my dahlias in large pots. I lift them before they are frosted - usually when they start to look straggly (October time). I dry them off upside down in the greenhouse for a couple of days. I then wrap them in newspaper and store them in cardboard boxes in my loft. I have not had any failures. This year (and the tubers are a few years old now) they reached 6 ft. and gave a truly wonderful display.
It is mid October and my Dahlias are still in flower. I read that I should cut them back and lift them for the winter - is it too soon? I am reluctant to cut back such beautiful flowers before I need to...
DO NOT cut them back, enjoy the flowers, they will be fine until the first frost. It is a recommended task but obviously depends where you are in the country, if you have a sheltered garden you could get another 6 weeks of pleasure whereas someone in Scotland may already have had to dig theirs up.
You should not lift dahlias until the frost has blackened the tops-they longer they are in the ground the better- this builds up the food reserves in the tuber making it bigger for flowering power next year
Some don't even lift them but leave them with a thick mulch too see them through the winter.
I have had some disasters with dahlias over the years. When we lived in Reading, Berks, I dug up the tubers and stored them in the loft. It was too dry and I lost the lot. We moved to central Scotland. I lifted the dahlias and stored them in the shed. Temperatures fell to -17 degrees that winter, again I lost the lot. Next year, stored them in the shed carefully insulated I thought, again very low temperatures caused me to lose them all. Last year I lifted them, dried them, packed each tuber in a plastic bag with holes in and put them in crates under the stairs. Al most all survived! I started them in pots in the greenhouse (remember that fine weather in March?) We went away for a week. There was snow. I got back to find the tops blackened but luckily got away with it and have had a fine display. I've just lifted them and am drying off. Will store under the stairs again as it is neither too hot nor too cold there. Fingers crossed.
When I first speak to a client about redesigning their garden I always ask them to be honest about how much time and money they wish to spend in their garden,
Dahlias are on my high maintenance list and I would not recommend them to any client who is not willing to put in the time. The combination of staking/feeding and dead heading plus the pests that they attract requires some effort.
Although I am based in Cornwall which is milder than most areas, the above average rainfall that we experience means that dahlias are prone to rotting if left in the ground over winter, so I prefer to lift them and store them in the greenhouse, this also means that they get a head start in spring.
Some of my clients who are more affluent seem quite happy to use them as disposable bedding and they are willing for the local nursery to do all the hard work, which is another option.
Anyway I wish you all good luck with them next year.
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Hi
I left mine to their own devices last year and didnt even dead head at the end. This year I have had loads of new plants even different colours.
I grow all my dahlias in large pots. I lift them before they are frosted - usually when they start to look straggly (October time). I dry them off upside down in the greenhouse for a couple of days. I then wrap them in newspaper and store them in cardboard boxes in my loft. I have not had any failures. This year (and the tubers are a few years old now) they reached 6 ft. and gave a truly wonderful display.
DO NOT cut them back, enjoy the flowers, they will be fine until the first frost. It is a recommended task but obviously depends where you are in the country, if you have a sheltered garden you could get another 6 weeks of pleasure whereas someone in Scotland may already have had to dig theirs up.
You should not lift dahlias until the frost has blackened the tops-they longer they are in the ground the better- this builds up the food reserves in the tuber making it bigger for flowering power next year
Some don't even lift them but leave them with a thick mulch too see them through the winter.
I have had some disasters with dahlias over the years. When we lived in Reading, Berks, I dug up the tubers and stored them in the loft. It was too dry and I lost the lot. We moved to central Scotland. I lifted the dahlias and stored them in the shed. Temperatures fell to -17 degrees that winter, again I lost the lot. Next year, stored them in the shed carefully insulated I thought, again very low temperatures caused me to lose them all. Last year I lifted them, dried them, packed each tuber in a plastic bag with holes in and put them in crates under the stairs. Al most all survived! I started them in pots in the greenhouse (remember that fine weather in March?) We went away for a week. There was snow. I got back to find the tops blackened but luckily got away with it and have had a fine display. I've just lifted them and am drying off. Will store under the stairs again as it is neither too hot nor too cold there. Fingers crossed.
When I first speak to a client about redesigning their garden I always ask them to be honest about how much time and money they wish to spend in their garden,
Dahlias are on my high maintenance list and I would not recommend them to any client who is not willing to put in the time. The combination of staking/feeding and dead heading plus the pests that they attract requires some effort.
Although I am based in Cornwall which is milder than most areas, the above average rainfall that we experience means that dahlias are prone to rotting if left in the ground over winter, so I prefer to lift them and store them in the greenhouse, this also means that they get a head start in spring.
Some of my clients who are more affluent seem quite happy to use them as disposable bedding and they are willing for the local nursery to do all the hard work, which is another option.
Anyway I wish you all good luck with them next year.