Lifestyles

Question: I have a variegated dogwood tree that's been growing in a container on my patio for the summer. I would like to keep it, but I'm not sure how to overwinter it. Am I better off planting it somewhere in the garden or lugging the container indoors?

Answer: If you want to keep the dogwood long term, your best bet is to plant it in the garden somewhere, even though it's considered too late in the season to plant. Here are three possible options for you.

First, you could plant the dogwood in a permanent spot in the garden. Dig the hole twice as wide as the container, but no deeper. Backfill the hole with the soil that came out, do not add any soil amendments to the fill. Keep the tree watered throughout the winter and all through next season. Because there will be little time for new roots to grow before the ground freezes, staking the tree is not a bad idea, but you'll want to remove the stake after one year to allow the tree to grow on its own. Then mulch with a few inches of shredded hardwood, keeping it three or four inches away from the trunk of the tree.

You could also plant the tree, pot and all, into a temporary place in the garden. This is a good option if you don't quite know where you want to locate the tree's permanent home, or if you want to squeeze one more year of "container garden" out of it. I don't recommend you keep the tree in a pot any longer than two seasons, so eventually it will have to find a permanent home somewhere in the garden. If you do choose this method (called "heeling in"), sink the pot into the ground up to its rim and stake the tree to keep it from blowing over. When spring arrives, dig it up, hose off the pot, and you're back in business.

A third option requires a bit more work, and has a slightly smaller chance of success, but it is another possibility. You could leave the container where it is and insulate it. Cut a piece of boxwire or chicken wire fencing that's three inches taller than the container and forms a circle a good foot wider than the container itself. Pack straw, hay, and/or leaves into the gap tightly and add more as it settles. The three inches of excess fencing on the top is usually enough to keep it from blowing away. Don't put the insulating material on top of the soil, rather add one or two inches of shredded hardwood mulch (being careful not to let it rest against the trunk itself).

Bringing your dogwood indoors would not be a good idea and it's quite possible that, if you do, the tree would not survive until spring.

Horticulturist Jessica Walliser, co-author of the book "Grow Organic," can be heard from 7-8 a.m. Sundays on KDKA Radio's "The Organic Gardeners." You also can find her teaching at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, where she has been a faculty member for more than 12 years.

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