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rosebush_gw

Wind catastrophe - or what happens when you don't plant out

18 years ago

ACK! Long story, but yesterday's high winds combined with the plastic covering (think SAIL) took down my shelf-type "greenhouse" (think BIG LOTS). All my containers with last year's little hostas, sea hollies, and various cuttings and transplants tipped right over onto the patio floor, upside down! Boo-hoo! :(

Another reminder that I should have just "plunked and run."

Comments (5)

  • 18 years ago

    Rosebush, I have containers go over in the wind every year - pick those babies up, turn them right side up, and plunk 'em back in the containers - you'll be surprised how many of them will make it.

    I gave up using the plastic coverings on the shelf-type greenhouses, partly for that reason - they're less tippy if you just use them as a shelf. I sometimes put a couple of bricks on the bottom shelf, but I've begun replacing them with sturdier shelves which, when loaded with plants, have enough weight to keep them upright through most weather.

  • 18 years ago

    Drippy's right, plunk those babies back in, add some potting soil where needed, water them.

    How about the eye part of a hook and eye latch screwed into your wall, secure your plant stand with a piece of plastic cord or clothes line. I've got a couple of things held into place that were loosened here with those eye screws....

    We had winds too. Heck with the plants house, I thought my own was going to blow away. The 100' tree laying on it may have been holding in down :) No front porch windows left and that was only wind, not the tree. I have a blown-loose sambucus tied to the front of my house with one of those eye screws, another holding a now tippy trellis steady until we can get to a more permanent fix.

    Those plants are tougher than you think :) If pieces of any of them broke by being dumped on their heads, it may be a good idea to remove anything jagged with sharp pruners so you don't run the risk of secondary damage by insects or disease. Good clean cuts heal faster.

  • 18 years ago

    similar problem happened to me as well
    try putting them back as much as you can, some will survive amazingly well

  • 18 years ago

    I know those little greenhouse things would never hold up to the wind here.

    Neither do smaller containers. I stick to gallon milk jugs as much as possible, deep soil, and they've not been a problem. Half gallons blow over. Small deli type ones just don't work for me, either.

    Karen

  • 18 years ago

    Thanks, all. I did put back as many as I could, and am hoping for the best. Thought I had the shelves pretty balanced, but obviously not and I don't think it would have mattered with the high winds we had. I'll secure it with cord as suggested by morz8.
    Wonder what else those winds tore up out at the garden. . . :0
    Ah,well, just a few more days and I'll be sowing seeds. . .
    Yes, WS is a great escape from the sometimes harsh reality of winter! LOL
    Happy sowing, everyone!