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Geraniums are one of the popular types of flowering plants that belong to the genus Pelargonium, part of the Geraniaceae family. These plants originate from South Africa but are now grown worldwide, particularly in temperate regions. These herbaceous plants grow in various forms, including trailing, upright, and shrub-like forms. They produce attractive flowers in shades of red, pink, purple, white, and bi-coloured varieties. Geraniums have five-petalled flowers with a central column of stamens and fragrant, lobed leaves.
They are drought-tolerant and are ideal for beginners. Geraniums are propagated through seeds or stem cuttings. Geraniums are not only ornamental but also used for essential oil production from the leaves and flowers. They are easy to grow and care for, preferring well-draining soil, sunlight, and partial shade.
With this being the natural habitat for Geraniums, the main concern for everyone is, can geraniums survive outside in winter?
How to Overwinter Geraniums?
Overwintering is the process of preparing and protecting a plant during the winter season when temperatures are low and daylight is limited. It involves providing the plant with the conditions to survive the cold temperatures and grow healthier in the spring. Like many other plants, Geraniums require overwintering to survive the winter. If not properly overwintered, geraniums might suffer from cold damage, disease, and other problems that can severely impact their growth and health.
Overwintering also involves pruning back the geraniums to remove any dead foliage. Additionally, it may be necessary to fertilize the plants to ensure they have the nutrients they need to survive the winter. During overwintering, geraniums should be moved indoors or protected in a greenhouse or other sheltered area. They should be kept in a cool and dark location where temperatures remain above freezing but below 50 degrees F. Overall, proper overwintering is essential for ensuring the health and growth of geraniums and can help them bloom beautifully.
So, here the common question arises,can geraniums survive outside in winter? The answer is yes, they can if you follow these simple ways to keep the plant from going weak.
1. Grow Them as Houseplants
Growing the Geraniums indoors can help geraniums survive the UK winter; this is one of the best ways to keep the plants safe and growing during the frosty weather. Simply place them near the window with sunlight or under the lights; this will help the plant to grow, even inside the house. Make sure not to water your Geraniums too much, and just try and keep the soil moist every time.
However, it is advised to take out the plant with roots from the outdoors, loosen any soil that is still attached to the plant and place them in a pot with fresh soil. This is to protect any pests or insects from entering the house and even protect them from any damage they have been causing. Before winter arrives, make sure to cut down leaves, flowers, and stems that are diseased, dead, have molds, or are unhealthy to the plants.
2. Storing Them as Dormants
This method which can help geraniums survive in the UK winter, is largely followed during the winter as it needs little to no work, and the plants live through the season. This process involves simply placing the Germanium in a dark storage area like a basement, garage, shed, or cellar. These conditions allow the plant to go dormant but not die completely, so when the winter passes, you can bring the plant back outdoors and grow them. Before you tuck the plant away, make sure to clean the plant and cut away any dead, damaged, moldy, diseased, or unhealthy foliage.
If you wish to, cut the plant into one-third so it grows new when the winter passes by. Cover the outer part of the plant with a paper bag and allow the plant to dormant. Even if you water the plant once a month, the thick stems of the Geraniums that store water will save the plant from dying. When Spring arrives, or the temperature is consistently 40F, clean up the plant and bring it back outdoors to grow. This method can help geraniums survive in the UK winter.
3. Store Them Bare-Root
If you have more Geranium plants or large varieties of them growing out in the soil, it is impractical and not cost-efficient to get pots just for the winter. In this case, this method of storing Geranium bare-root throughout the winter in cold storage and bringing them back in warmer temperatures can help geraniums survive in the UK winter. This method needs care only once every six weeks, which makes it one of the feasible options.
Remove the plant with its roots intact from the soil, and remove as much soil as possible without harming the roots. Once you’ve done that but still see soil, leave the plant in a confined environment for a couple of days, and the soil will come off. At this point, cut off any unhealthy, mouldy, damaged or diseased roots and flowers to keep them from spreading. Once done, store the plants upside down with either root hanging open in a sheltered location or place them upside down in a cotton box. Once in six weeks, spray them with water and change the box. And when the temperature is warm, bring them back and plant them outdoors to continue them to grow.
4. Grow the Cuttings
This method is most efficient for people who have a confined space that doesn’t allow much sunlight to grow the plants indoors or if the Geraniums are suffering from pests and infestation. In this method, you need to take out your plant and cut small stems of the plant and grow them indoors until they bear roots and can be placed outside once the winter passes by to help geraniums survive in UK winter. In this process, you need to cut the stems of the plant really short, no more than 3-4 inches. Make sure to remove any dead or damaged leaves and keep only 2-4 leaves. Once you have the cutting, you can now place it in either a pot or glass or water or moist the lower part in rooting hormone powder and place it in the soil.
In both ways, you can expect to see roots in around 6 weeks, and once you have the roots, you can replace the water with soil. Remember not to place these plants in direct sunlight. First, place them in partial shade and slowly bring them into direct sunlight so the foliage doesn’t burn immediately.
5. Reduce Watering
If your plants are outdoors and you cannot move them indoors during the winter due to insufficient space or no windows with sunlight, then this is one of the simplest ways that can help geraniums survive in the UK winter. Move them to sheltered areas or to shade, even outdoors and stop watering them frequently. With no supply of water regularly, the plants will soon go into a dormant or semi dormant-state where they will preserve their energy to sustain. The leaves may grow brown, but the plant won’t die.
Even if you see some seeds flower, remove them so the plant doesn’t need much energy. Let the plants pass the winter by watering them once every 2-3 weeks just to support their thick stems and bring them to sunlight whenever possible. Once the temperature warms up, water them frequently, and you will see growth in the plants with flowering.
6. Grow Them Under Cover
If your Geraniums are already in pots and outdoors before the winter arrives, then simply move the plants to conservatories where the place doesn’t freeze up. These can be areas with artificial light, such as a greenhouse environment. A greenhouse with a heater would be an ideal environment that can help Geraniums survive in UK weather and be healthy during the winters when they are covered with light and warm temperatures.
In these living conditions, make sure to water the plants frequently and fertilize them regularly. Also, look out for moulds and infestation, and change the soil even if you have doubts about it. Cut down any dry leaves and flowers so the energy of the plant is not wasted on them. While this process needs a little extra care, it ensures that your plants are safe, alive, and growing, even if it’s freezing outside.
Conclusion
With the above steps, you can easily answer the question, can geraniums survive outside in winter in the UK? Yes, you can just follow the above-mentioned steps that work easily for you according to your conditions to make sure your Geraniums survive. Mind that your goal is to simply help the plants survive with the least possible energy to live and thrive after the winter season.
Whether you want to grow them inside, under shade, in the greenhouse, or dormant, make sure that you follow all the right steps to make sure that your plant lives through the season.
Geranium plants, with little extra attention over the winter season, can survive and thrive throughout the year. Their blooming offers bright colour flowers with eyes that attract butterflies for pollination, enhancing the views of your home garden, porch, indoors, or anywhere that it’s placed.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is Overwintering?
Overwintering is the process through which living organisms survive through the winter season against harsh climates such as snow and below zero degrees. The plants can just live through the season without wasting their energy on growing.
Why Do Geraniums Need Overwintering?
To live and thrive, Geranium plants need loads of sunlight. Without sunlight, the plants will fade and die. In the winter season, when there’s no sunlight, it can get difficult for Geraniums to survive. This is why we need to overwinter the plants to survive the winter season.
Which is the Most Economical Way to Overwinter Geraniums?
Storing the geraniums bare-root in the basement or storage area is the most efficient method to save money. All you need to do is find a box to store the bare-rooted Geraniums upside without soil and water them once a month throughout the winter.
What are the Ways to Overwinter Geraniums?
We can grow the Geraniums as houseplants in small pots, store them as dormant in storage areas, store them bare-rooted in cotton boxes, plant the cuttings and grow them in-house, and grow them in a greenhouse or conservatories in regulated temperatures.
How Can Geraniums Survive without Watering Regularly?
During the overwintering process, it is advised not to water Geraniums regularly as we intend them to just survive through the winter. Watering them would waste their energy to bloom, which is not possible in winter conditions. Hence, we need to water them just enough to survive and use the water stored in their stems.
