Chopped newspaper at 3.5 and 7.0 kg.m-2 enclosed in white polyethylene sheeting or enclosed in nylon netting at 3.5 kg.m-2 was compared with two layers of 0.64-cm microfoam as winter covering of four taxa of container-grown nursery plants. White polyethylene-enclosed newspaper moderated winter temperatures more than net-enclosed newspaper or two layers of microfoam under white polyethylene. All coverings provided protection against winter injury, as evidenced by container temperature, but net-enclosed newspaper at 3.5 kg.m-2 resulted in a minimal percentage of Daphne burkwoodii `Carol Mackie' plants with three or more shoots longer than 2 cm in the spring. Gaillardia grandiflora, covered by newspaper during winter, had less spring growth than plants covered by microfoam, but all coverings provided protection for Juniperus horizontalis `Prince of Wales' and Physostegia virginiana.