Strawberry/Blueberry container question (Albany, NY)

[gfbaseball22]

Hello everyone,

I've read suggestions of what to do with strawberries and blueberries during the winter but my situation seems to be somewhat unique and I was hoping someone more knowledgeable could give me some direction.

This year was my first year gardening and I had a plot about 20' x 15' that was great this summer with about a dozen different veggies. However, now the growing season as long passed and we have had several freezing nights (it has even snowed once).

I have two first year strawberry plants in the ground and two first year blueberry plants in large containers above ground. Since I live in Albany and have no place for the garden I had to locate it at my uncle's house near Saratoga Springs (Zone 4), but his house is on the market for sale. Therefore, I am a bit worried that if I bury my blueberry containers in the ground, he may sell his house before the spring and I'd kind of be out of luck because there would be no getting those back.

So finally the question. Should I bury the strawberries with mulch and hope the house doesn't sell or should I dig them up and put them in containers in the garage? And for the blueberries, should I leave them above ground with burlap, should I put them in the garage or should I bury them in the containers and hope the house doesn't sell?

I know it is almost impossible to tell whether the house is going to sell in this economy but I'm wondering what is best for the plants. I guess if worst comes to worst the plants were only $10 dollars each so it wouldn't be a huge loss but as both varieties produce stronger crops the more years they have under their belt it would be disappointing to have to start over.

Thank you!

 

[lesa]

That is a difficult problem. Since you can't predict the future, I think your best bet is to keep everything out of the ground. In very short order, the dirt will be frozen and chances are your plants will be covered with snow... Rather safe than sorry- I'd get the strawberries in the garage and keep the BB's above ground. I dug my strawberries out of my strawberry pot, last fall and stored the pot in a dark, unheated storage unit. When spring came I was surprised to see a little green plant, in one of the holes in the pot!! So, I think the garage will be fine for them. Good luck!