Garden experts say now is the time to overwinter salvias to ensure they grow back 'stronger than ever' next spring

With the winter weather nearly upon us, the plants in the garden will need a little extra attention to ensure they survive the season. Salvias, whilst hardy, will need preparing so they can flower better than ever next spring.

Overwintering plants is an often-forgotten winter gardening task; however, for most perennials, it makes all the difference in surviving the worst of the winter weather. Don't make a common winter gardening mistake and leave your overwintering too late in the season; even hardy plants like Salvias need some help to make it through the season.

Luckily, there are only a couple of steps needed to successfully overwinter your salvias, and Tom Stimpson, Head of Horticulture at Sarah Raven, is here to walk you through them.

There are so many reasons to grow salvias in your garden, especially for late summer colour, but one of the best reasons is just how low-effort they are even in winter.

"Salvias are amazing plants to have in the garden, and I love so many different types, but one of my favourites is Salvia Peach Melba, which is such a brilliant performer. It goes on and on and on," says Tom.

"Very often people wonder which salvias are best for overwintering, how am I going to care for them, are they going to die if the winter gets too cold and wet?" he adds.

"Generally speaking, the smaller the leaf, the tougher the salvia. So Salvia peach melba generally has a small leaf, and that signifies to me that it's pretty tough and hardy, but the one thing it will need is plenty of free drainage," Tom explains.

There's a reason salvias are amongst some of the best drought-tolerant plants, they do best in drier soil so ensuring their able to drain winter rain well is a top priority.

If you've used salvias as a patio container plant then overwintering them couldn't be simpler.

"So, if you grow them in pots as I do, and this has been part of a mixed pot, the important thing is to raise the pot off the ground so the water can drain away freely over winter," Tom suggests.

"Never cut salvias like this back until new growth appears right at the vase following spring. And stop all feeding now, and just generally deadhead and tidy, you'll find they probably keep going until November," he continues.

"They might start to look a bit faded, but I quite like that in a way. So, they're much easier to care for than you think, tough, reliable, and this one in particular is pretty hardy," says Tom.

Even during winter salvias will make a big impact in the smallest of gardens, and will just a little helping hand they'll be back to full growth and blooms come next spring.

Adding overwintering to your November garden jobs might seem like a lot of work now, but the result will be worth the extra elbow grease once the sunny weather returns.