What is you location? What is your winter like?

Not sure how warm your winters are. In my case when I chip budded some apples onto potted rootstocks, I buried the pots in my garden temporarily for the winter to protect the roots. I then ran some chicken wire fencing around them all for bunny protection. They overwintered just fine.

Keep them outside is just fine, good snow cover helps, I bury pots about half ways. Keep Voles under control, otherwise they can end up like this..

Without knowing the OPs location we can't really give advice on winter protection. In my climate, for example, potted apples would not need burying or any other protection outdoors.

Sorry i am in the cold side of zone 3, i think its zone two on my site specifically. I have 200 pots and would need to bury them by hand if thats my best option. Any thoughts on useing a old cellar dug into a hill? might it be to warm?

Sad Konrad, I have seen similar in stoolbed i was creating. they got everyone

There are more worries when inside...drying out would be my first concern.

I'll be doing inside down the road in the root cellar when complete, but only for tender stuff, as long one can check that media doesn't dry up.

Lots of nursery people throw mulch over the outside pots.

Brrrrr...zone 3! No ideas from me would be valid for you. Good luck.

200 pots to bury? I would dig a pit with a skidsteer and then lay them in horizontally. Add some mouse bait blocks and then cover the whole pile with a plastic tarp. Add some soil over the top and let freeze. Once froze put straw over the whole pile a foot deep. In spring just remove the straw and scoop off the layer of soil down to the tarp.

This practice was commonly used to overwinter potted tree roses in northern zone 5 at a nursery I once worked at. Some in Minnesota do this to overwinter tea roses. Bonus is the rabbits cannot get at the tops. Still need to bait for mice/voles however. Do not straw over until everything is froze!

Thanks. I have had vole trouble as well on new young stuff when covered with mulch. Wonder if mothballs in pots under mulch would work?

I mulch around pots with leaves.