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The Return of Old Man Winter  How To Protect Your Plants by Carrie P. Williams You knew it was going to happen. After a few gorgeous weeks of warm weather, the belief that spring was finally here settled in your head, only to be blown away by a North wind and freezing temperatures. Not only were you taken off guard, just look at your plants: they likewise had thought it was spring, and their once colorful flowers are now just hanging down, brown and limp. Yes, you sigh, that is the way Nature goes sometimes, but was there anything you could have done to prevent such a massacre?  Gratefully, there are some actions you can take against freezing, but first, you need to know what you're up against. One of the biggest questions concerning freezing is why it poses a bigger problem in early fall or late spring than in all of the winter months. After all, that is when it usually gets the coldest. However, what actually harms plants is not the cold temperatures themselves but the extreme temperature fluctuations that can occur during the changing of the seasons.  During the winter, most plants are dormant, which essentially means that they have boarded up for the winter. They have prepared and protected themselves for the cold weather. During the change to spring, a few warm days can fool many plants into 'unpacking' early, shooting out sensitive new leaves and flowers. If the temperature suddenly drops one night below freezing, this sensitive tissue is injured or killed. The same thing happens occasionally during the fall if a plant has not gone fully dormant by the first freeze. Another puzzler is what creates the difference between a frost advisory and a hard freeze advisory that can be issued by weather services occasionally. The main deviation is the expected low temperature. A frost is generally defined as temperatures briefly falling to between 28 and 32 degrees Fahrenheit. This can harm plants that cannot tolerate freezing conditions at all, but adapted, established plants should not suffer much, if any, harm.   A hard freeze, on the other hand, can mean serious business. It is generally defined as temperatures reaching 28 degrees Fahrenheit or lower during a time when some plants are coming out of dormancy. Even established plants that are hardy for that particular climate can be injured or killed if they are breaking into leaf or flower. For gardeners, this is a warning well-heeded if you want to keep your prized plants from turning into a mushy, brown slime.  You may not be able to control the weather, but thankfully you can still go through some preventative measures in order to save your landscape. The best thing you can do is mulch. Providing a two to four inch layer of mulch will serve as an insulating blanket for your plants' roots; keeping the soil warmer than the surrounding air. Even your plants can appreciate having warm, toasty toes during a cold night. nce a frost or freeze warning goes out for your area, make sure you get out in your landscape and water all of your plants. During a frost or freeze, plants still lose water through their leaves into the air, and with the water in the soil frozen solid, they cannot take up the needed water. By giving your plants a quenching drink before the temps drop, they will enter the freeze hydrated and able to better tolerate a cold night. For your most susceptible plants, sometimes mulching and watering are not enough, especially for those sensitive flowers. If your delicate plants are in a container, you can bring them into a storage area or basement for the time being, which will protect them from the worst of the temperatures.  If your flowering, tender plant is firmly established in the ground, don't worry; there are a few more options you can implement. A good rule of thumb to remember is 'when expecting a freeze of late, don't forget to decorate!' By covering your tender plants with sheets or Christmas lights, you will keep that tender leaf and flower tissue warm, never mind what your neighbors think. Once the freeze is over, your yard will be the one greening out and blossoming. When next a frost or freeze warning is next issued for your area, you won't need to panic. Now you not only know the difference between frosts and freezes, you know a variety of methods to combat the cold temperatures head-on. Thankfully, most areas only have to worry about a hard freeze a few times a year. Next time it does happen, however, you will be fully prepared to take on Old Man Winter, sheets and Christmas lights in hand. Carrie P. Williams is a professional landscape designer with Turf Tamer, Inc. She has written many informative landscaping articles for Turf Tamer's Tip of the Week program. Want to learn more landscaping tips and tricks? Go to http://www.turftamerinc.com to find more tips.

 

 

 

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