Winter Wrapping: Why Your Tender Plants Still Need a Bit of TLC

There's a quiet debate that rolls around every autumn: "Do we still need to wrap tender plants? Winter's aren't as cold now.. surely they'll be fine?"

I've heard this every year over the past few years, and honestly, I get it. The weather is all over the place, and winter's feel more like a half-hearted shrug rather than true frost season. But here's the thing: while our climate is shifting, frost pockets, prolonged cold spells, and surprise frost snaps haven't packed their bags. They still show up when they feel like it, and tender plants are the ones that pay the price.

What Plants Am I Talking About?

A few of the usual suspects that benefit from protection in most UK gardens include:

• Banana (especially Musa basjoo)

• Tree Ferns (Dicksonia antartica)

• Tetrapanax

• Some palms (such as Trachycarpus spp. in colder pockets)

• Cordylines (in exposed gardens)

• Gunnera

• Heptapleurum taiwananum (and similar borderline exotics)

These plants aren't divas, but they are used to climates where winter's are more gentle.

The RHS have not relaxed on this, their guidance still encourages extra care for these types of plants. Even though the UK weather might be warmer overall, it's also more unpredictable. Warm spells. Sudden plunges. Wet freezes. Long, soggy cold spells.

Ok, Cool. But Do We Really Need To Wrap Our Plants?

Here's the interesting part. Last year, I tested it.

Last winter I decided to trial it myself, so when people asked, I can come to them with more than a theory. I wrapped one Banana plant and left the other.

Come spring?

They both survived, however, the difference in performance was impossible to ignore. The wrapped banana pushed out strong, chunky growth with real momentum behind it. The unwrapped one sulked, its growth was thinner, slower, more hesitant. From this moment, it was clear to me that protecting these plants over winter isn't just about keeping them alive, it's about giving them the best possible start when the season turns.

Why Does Wrapping Work?

Think of it like tucking a warm blanket around the energy reserves your plant spent all summer building.

Protection helps with:

• Preserving the 'crown' or growing point

• Reducing frost penetration into stems

• Preventing rot from cold, prolonged wet

• Maintaining a more stable micro-climate

• Helping the plant start next season with more stored energy

A tender plant that doesn't have to spend the growing season repairing damage can get straight to the good stuff: leafing out, bulking up, towering proudly over our borders, and delivering that lush, escape-to-another-world look we all love.

When Not Protecting Goes Wrong

One warm winter can lull you into a false sense of security. Then next year delivers a late, biting frost, and suddenly your once majestic Cordyline has collapsed like wet cardboard.

If You're Unsure What Needs Doing....

Every garden is its own little climate with its own quirks. South-facing courtyard? Exposed hillside? Dense clay? Woodland shelter? It all matters.

If you'd prefer not to wrestle with fleece, straw, hessian and soggy winter evenings, you can always contact me for advice and I can take care of the protection work for you. I look after tropical gardens each year, and it's always worth getting it right.