PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — You didn’t plant everything you bought yet, did you?  Neither did I.  If you can make time to get those shrubs, trees and perennials into the ground on a warm November or December day, you’ll be glad you did.

But, if you really run out of time, you can protect your plants by just snuggling them in for winter. 

Find a sheltered spot – alongside your house or garage can be good – and create a cozy place to cluster potted plants. Make a trench, place pots a few inches apart, fill with soil up to the top of the pots, and then add a couple of inches of mulch.  Protecting plants this way – with soil or even just surrounding them with lots of leaves – helps insulate their roots against winter weather and gives them a better chance at survival. 

Then, when everything thaws out in spring, you can plant them where you want them – once and for all. Seriously.

Reported By Phran Novelli, KYW Newsradio