If you get any ground freeze at all there..neither will survive

I thought that could be avoided with heavy mulching? We don't get long ground freezes if at all, or that deep and only on the surface with snow.

If it was my sago.. I would leave it in the pot until spring and plant it then and hope for no ground freeze (actually depends on how small a plant you have). Sago has a small shallow root system when young. Mex. heather here gets frost bite once in awhile here but comes backs from the roots. And a very inexpensive plant when purchased in 4 inch pots.

I have no plans to try this until late spring of 2006. We shall see.

Well, for what it's worth, I'm in the northern part of zone 8 and we do get a few light freezes each year. My sago palm has survived in the ground for the past 5 years without covering it at all. The branches die and new ones sprout each spring.

I envy those of you who can leave the Sago in the ground. Mine is in a pot in the basement under lights until May.

Joe

when the leaves turn brown from the freezing temps...can you trim them off and hope new ones come out?

If you remove the brown fronds, new growth will happen quickly when it warms up in the spring, IF you have mulched well. I know: I killed a nice sago that had been in the ground for 3 yrs by forgetting to mulch.

New fronds will definitely come out if the old ones brown from the cold as long as it didnt get cold enough to kill the caudex. Sago palms arent actually palms which is why they can go dormant and re grow whatever didnt make it through the winter as long as the caudex didnt rot. Thats why mulching is important in marginal zones, the mulch will protect the caudex from freezing significantly (unless you live in a very cold zone for sago palms). Watch out for winter moisture also. Cold rain with lots of freezing can kill sago palms because of rot.

I successfully overwintered a small sago in zone 7 ny and it still has 2 green leaves. I used Christmas lights and plastic containers

live in southern tenn. will sago survive our winters if left in ground?

Aside from very cold temps, Sagos really seem to resent snow and ice on their leaves--this causes discolorations much before really low temps. If you can keep the crown DRY, this will be a BIG advantage!

I have one in it's third winter & a smaller one in it's first winter outdoors. Although most of the foliage turned brown last year, even with mulch, it flushed out nicely. There's plastic & a blanket over the leaf mulch to shield the crown from rain.