Care for a Potted Arborvite Dwarf Spiral

by Linda
(Sayreville, NJ, USA)

I purchased a potted arborvite spiral to keep on my outside porch next to the front door which gets afternoon sun in the summer. I live in central New Jersey and a friend told me that I probably should either plant it in the ground or put it in the garage or take it inside during the winter because it will freeze in a planter pot. I prefer keeping it in the planter for decorative purposes but don't want it to die. Is this true? Any suggestions? I appreciate any info you can give me.
Thank you.


Doug says that if the temperature where you live goes down to 5F, then you're going to want to protect the roots as they'll likely die at that temp. So - there's your guideline.

Do not take it inside for the winter and try to keep it growing. It wants a dormancy period of cool temperatures (just not frozen roots) like it would get outside or it's going to be a very unhappy plant.

So, if your garage doesn't freeze solid - OK. If it freezes in there, I'd want to plant it in the ground if it were mine.

Or...:-) Grow it in your pot and then put the plant in the ground in the fall to overwinter there. Dig it up in the spring, clean it up, repot and grow on. You'll want to protect the needles from winterburn by wrapping or some other winter protection (keep it out of the sunlight and wind for the winter momths).

If you're keen on container gardening, you may want to join the seminar group that's going right now (May 08) on container gardening right here