Winter Mulchinh

Fallen leaves do a great job. Try putting them on the lawn and running over them with the mower first. Can't answer all your question but fuchsias can be mulched over the crown to protect from frost. Fleece can be used wherever top growth is at risk, eg cordylines or even early flowering azaleas.

I noticed Scottish, that you had Verbena bonariensis, it is recommended by the growers that you protect the crown over winter with a mulch. I put a compost mulch on mine every winter.
I collect leaves in my leaf hoover and compost them in net bags under shrubs and bushes it makes great compost as long as it get cold enough unlike general compost which gets hot.

Confession time - I never bother to mulch anything for the winter, ever, other than tying cordylines and wrapping if its bitter cold. I do though, leave topgrowth in place (dead, dying or otherwise) and usually find that's enough to trap leaves which blow about and the plants get protected a bit that way. Anything which is tender gets placed somewhere warmer and sheltered if I want to try to save whatever it is - things like dahlias I lift and pop into pots. Verbena bonariensis often dies in winter here in London, but I usually have a plethora of seedlings pop up in late Spring, so I've never had to buy new plants of that anyway.

Thanks for all the tips steragram, Denise and Bamboo. My reasons for asking were I have lots of new perennials in the garden this year and on looking at care advice mulching was recommended for a few of them.
A couple of trees in a neighbours garden have been removed this year, so will endeavour to collect fallen leaves along the river and use these.
Steragram - thanks for the tip re lawn mower.
Denise - the cold shouldn't be a problem for the leaves. Will the leaves I lift this year into bags be usable next year?
Denise/Bamboo - re the Verbena, it is almost 2m tall - I was going to leave it to drop seed since finding out it wasn't hardy. So would I leave the stems on and pack around the crowns or should I really cut it down first?
One last question, a couple of my plants have recommended protecting crowns with straw - I had thought to pack a few old wire hanging baskets with straw and fixing over plant - would this work?
Sorry for being such a pest :)

Yes, that idea sounds like a good one, at least the hanging basket will stop the straw blowing away, as often happens with leaves. As for the Verbena, I wouldn't cut it at all, I'd want as many seeds as possible to fall round and about - won't stop you mulching round the base anyway, even if you leave the top on, it'll die back on its own and not affect the base. And if the forecast I've just read for this winter is anywhere near accurate, it'll be protected by excessive snow anyway...

The hanging basket idea is brilliant! I do find that when the leaves are chopped up small they blow about much less, especially once they have been rained on. The worms take lots of them down over the winter and what's left can be just gently forked into the soil in the Spring. Quicker and less bother than composting - you might want to add a little extra nitrogenous fertilizer in the spring to make up for what rotting the leaves takes out of the soil.

I wonder how the weather forecasters know there'll be snow - long range forecasts have often been wrong in the past so lets keep our fingers crossed!

This forecast is from the guy who said last year would be the way it was, Steragram, and he bases his forecasts on the Gulf Stream (what's left of it) and sunspot activity. So hold onto your hats...

Hi Scottish I find my leaf mould takes 9 months since I started using net bags in plastic bin bags with lots of holes I found it took well over a year.

Oh dear, time to stock the freezer...

I grind mine up in a leaf hoover but you can also run the empty mower over them and empty the grass box in to a bag - that does the same thing and speeds up the rotting down process.

Thanks again for all these tips. I will collect some for this year and next.
Since Bamboo had a confession...I have only ever wrapped up 3 plants for winter and each of them subsequently died! Hopefully I'll have some luck with the leaves.
Thanks for the forecast on the weather Bamboo....cheered me up no end! I love the snow, especially when I get snowed off at work! :)

I love the way it looks - but hate the fact I can't take the car out in it. And I defo don't like the heating bills...

Yeh....the bills are defo not welcome!!