Wintering in a Garage

Oysterowl83

Howdy All,

This year I am thinking of storing my confiers in my unheated garage that isn't in use by a vehicle. I live in zone 6, and there are 3 glass windows on the garage door that allow morning sun into the one car garage. I am looking for opinions on wether I can put them there or not, and what else I am gonna need to get this properly done for the winter!

Thanks alot!,
Anthony*

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GaryS

You shouldn't have much of a problem where you live so long as the temperature in the garage doesn't get lower than 23ºF and that's cutting it close.
It gets cold where I live so I use a space heater for those below15º- 0ºF and below nights. It usually stays about 10-12º warmer than the outside temp in the unheated storage room I keep mine in.

As far as watering, I use snow to water them and mist the room when it gets really cold and dry, to keep the humidity up.

Water them when the soil surface is dry or pick them up and see how the weight is.

Don't water them when they are frozen.

Mine need very little watering because they are frozen most of the Winter. I try yo keep it at 28ºF in the shelter.

With temperature, a lot has to do with what you are growing also. My tenderest plants are Trident and Japanese maples.

Good luck this winter.

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GaryS

pdbbonsai

I have wintered mine in the garage before. I had excellent results (survival) my first year. The second year, a squirrel cohabitated in the same garage.......chowing on the dormant buds off several trees. Although I was worried, there was enough ummph in the secondary buds for survival, slow, but they came through. I also watered by using snow, and misted just as Gary has said.

I now build cold frames for mine. Good luck.

Paul

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grampz

Mr. Anthony,

I would think there should be no problem for conifers in your garage...In fact there should be no problem for conifers outdoors in your zone with exception of a very few species...The term conifers covers a wide variety of trees but the majority of them are very cold hardy...

Regards
Behr

dtree

My brother in North Dakota came up with this one, and I am using this technique now. You can build a box/frame in your unheated garage, and line it with 2 inch styrofoam insulation strips. Make sure you line the floor as well. Once it gets cold enough, the temperature inside your box will stay very constant (around 28-30 degrees) even with outdoor temps fluctuating from -20 F to +60 F. November to April. The interesting thing is that in normal temperature conditions (no extremes) the box temp will stay fairly constant even with the top off, so you get good air circulation. During really cold or warm weather, put the top on and run a small fan inside the box. A digital max/min thermometer is cheap and really helps. What I like about this technique is that the box will stay cool in the spring so that my early budding trees like Kiyohime do not bud out prematurely.

clrosner

I've included a couple pictures from my garage... The first two are from this year when I tucked away the few trees I have left.

The third picture is a couple years old, so you can see that I used a different configuration (when I had more trees). I, basically, cover the floor with mulch, place my trees and then mulch them up to the first branch. I place a long wooden skewer in each tree to check their water needs. Usually I water them about two or maybe three times all winter! I do have a window in the garage door, but I doubt if they really need any light during their dormancy. That, of course, is my humble opinion.

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	GARAGE 041113 a.jpg (56.0 KB, 47 views)
	GARAGE - DORMANCY 001025.jpg (65.9 KB, 51 views)

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GaryS

Plants don't need light as long as the temperature is below 40º.

Nice setup clrosner.

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Will_Heath

I live in zone 6, Michigan. My conifers that are established stay outside all winter through many -0 days with no other protection than a fence to block the north and west winds and mulch up to the lowest branches. The snow just piles up on them adding more insulation and also acts as a watering system whenever it melts.

I have stored conifers that I was worried about in a unheated shed. I used a much larger pot than they were in and mulched the pot into this. place mulch on the bottom, set your pot in and mulch around all sides up to the first branch. (Smaller version of what Carl does.) The drawback to this is that you must check for moisture whenever the temp rises above freezing, do not let them dry out. Drying out can happen fast inside a garage with concrete.

While it is true that conifers do not need light when it is freezing, I do not like the prospect of moving them in and out whenever the temp bounces. In the early spring we can have a 55 degree day and heavy frost that night.
Windows are a luxury!

Will