Overwintering Gunnera

[andy]

By the pond at work, i have lots of huge gunnera. Some of the crowns are a good 10 foot across.

Every autumn, i cut the leaves off and fold them over the crowns and cover them with a thick layer of straw. However, being a public garden, and getting the full force of any north easterly winds, most of the straw ends up in the pond which in turn, makes an awful mess.

So this year, i need to start thinking of an alternative, reusable item to take the place of the straw. I need to find different alternatives before showing it to my manager.

I've never used fleece before so not too sure how it would protect them by just covering with a sheet.....i think i'd need to double, if not treble it up for good protection.

The other thing is i'm not sure if the boss would go for white material.....it would have to be a bit more subtle and blend in a bit.

So does anyone have any ideas what to use that will give them the protection needed.

Many thanks

[Tig]

What about unwashed sheeps wool Andy? I can't recall what I was watching but it was shown to be a very effective form of protection for tree ferns, because the natural oils in the wool combined with its insulating capacity helped keep the crowns dry as well as warm. Poundland are selling some weed suppressent material which is not much use for the stated purpose as it is actually more like black fleece, it would be ideal to peg down over the wool without looking too in your face!

x Tig

Maybe Carolann could supply you with some wool at shearing time, cut price I'm sure ;D

[andy]

I'm not sure if i'd get the same problem as i'd get with the straw Tig ie blowing everywhere or the kids kicking and throwing it in the pond.

I also want to cut down the time it takes to get the straw, put it over the gunnera, remove it in spring and take it to the tip. Ideally, i'd just like to roll it out, cut to size, peg it down and then just unpeg it and fold it up in spring.

[Deleted]

Could you not do that with fleece, then peg the large Gunnera leaves over it to hide the fleece. Sounds fiddly I know, but less messy than having to dig the sraw out of the pond.

[Cheerypeabrain]

I always push the straw into the crown, then lay the leaves over the top, overlay with netting and peg it all in place andy, but I'm sure that my gunnera is a lot smaller than the ones you're dealing with. The netting is quite unobtrusive...but I still end up with straw everywhere so I know where you're coming from. Still, we have all summer to think of a solution

[andy]

The boss has agreed (in theory) to get a big roll (150m !!!) of heavy duty fleece ;D Just might have to dye it green though

[Auricula]

You can get green fleece - I have some bags made of it to put over tall pot plants, perhaps you could just put one layer of green on the top ;D
I am lucky, I do nothing to my gunnera at all, just leave the leaves where they fall and clear up in spring. I thought I might have had trouble this year, but it is back, wider than ever

[Cheerypeabrain]

camouflage fleece....hhhhmmmm?