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Freeze ProtectionDon't let winter weather put the big chill on your landscape. |
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Transcript: Freeze Protection
When freezing temperatures threaten your tender landscape plants, they need a little extra protection. A good way to protect them is to use the natural heat of the soil. If you pull the mulch back, the sun will heat up the soil during the day, and in the evening that heat radiates up around the plant to protect it.You want to provide some type of cover over the plant to hold that heat in. You can use spun-bound polyester, such as this. When you do, you don’t want to wrap it up around the plant like a landscape lollypop because the plant has no heat in and of itself; it’s the soil heat that you’re trying to capture. So allow it just to drape down naturally and place bricks or boards or cover the edges with soil to allow the soil heat to arise up around the plant and protect it.
Don’t use plastic. Plastic can burn the edges of the leaves on a cold, frosty night. You can use old blankets or old sheets; however, you want to make sure you use old ones and not your spouse’s new sheets or you may end up spending the night on the couch.
With your common sense gardening tip for protecting cold tender plants and getting a good night sleep, I’m Skip Richter.
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Last Updated:
July 6, 2006