Garden Q&A: Should I bring my geraniums indoors for winter?

Whether you're a gardening beginner or expert, Irish Examiner columnist Peter Dowdall has the answer to your questions

QUESTION

Should I bring my geraniums indoors now or can I leave them out for the winter?

ANSWER

It’s that time of the year when we are watching to see what the weather will do each day now. 

Geraniums — or I am guessing that you are actually referring to pelargoniums which we also call frost-tender geraniums — should be moved indoors before the temperatures drop too low and we experience frost. 

We are all trying to get the very last few days and even hours out of the early autumn before we must take refuge indoors once more. 

Saying that, I would err on the side of caution when it comes to protecting geraniums and frost-tender fuchsias. 

Bring them in to an unheated glasshouse or polytunnel now to give them the protection they need over the winter. 

If you don’t have a greenhouse or similar, a kitchen windowsill will be fire or even a garden shed, provided it is getting enough natural light through the windows and do make sure that they aren’t allowed to dry out completely over the winter.

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