You probably planted beautiful annual containers for the summer, but with last week’s hard freezes and Saturday’s wet, windy weather, they are surely done for the year.  Correctly putting the pots into winter storage is crucial for the life of the container. Generally speaking, decorative containers, including concrete, are not very winter friendly. Water has a way of collecting in dings and crevices, and of course when it freezes it expands, and can crack most types of container materials.

Small pots are easily moved into garages or storage areas. Large or extremely heavy pots are another story. Immovable containers can be left outside provided you take a few precautions. If possible, all soil should be removed and the container should be covered to prevent water from collecting inside. Raising the container up off the ground is also a good idea. Pot feet or bricks are an easy solution. This prevents the pot from freezing to the ground, which undergoes shifts during the winter with alternate freezing and thawing. These few simple steps will prolong the life and looks of your investments. There are a few containers sold as being frost resistant, but we still recommend emptying them and getting them off the ground.

For containers that are truly frost resistant, or for those that are too heavy to move, consider updating them for the holiday season. Once the pots are cleaned out and lifted a bit from the ground, fill them with some clean sand. Many of the unique varieties of gourds are not only beautiful to look at, but they have an incredible shelf life. The same is true for the super cool winter squashes that you got for Halloween. Begin with those by arranging a few on top of the soil. Next, take a look around your garden. Do you have any ornaments or decorative stakes that have a fall vibe? You can also utilize some stems from your fall pruning and clean-up. Red or yellow-twigged dogwood branches are a favorite and it’s okay to prune them now. But how about seed-heads from your ornamental grasses? Or the dried flower heads from your summer alliums? Place those in the sand behind the gourds. Finally, fill in with some preserved leaves or ornamental kale and your porch or walk is ready to welcome Thanksgiving guests.

When you are ready to decorate for the winter holidays, it’s really simple to update this arrangement. Remove everything from the container, but the branches. We know that you’ll be tempted to use your own evergreen trees and shrubs for clippings, but resist this impulse. Pruning these kinds of plants now can cause a great deal of winter injury to your plants. The Garden Center will soon be stocked with evergreen branches like fir and pine, winterberry and more exotic fare such as cypress and juniper. Use the less expensive greens to form the body and structure of your creation and add the more colorful branches to add pizzazz.