For the best chance at success for keeping your garden alive through the winter, choose hardy native plants that are used to your area's climate. When the weather forecaster warns of an overnight freeze, cover your plants with burlap, an old sheet or blanket, or clear plastic.
Cover Plants – Protect plants from all but the hardest freeze (28°F for five hours) by covering them with sheets, towels, blankets, cardboard or a tarp. You can also invert baskets, coolers or any container with a solid bottom over plants. Cover plants before dark to trap warmer air.
I have used old pillow cases, sheets, towels and even cardboard boxes. Just be sure that whatever you use to cover your plant, the cover reaches the ground and traps the warm air inside the canopy. Plastic can be used but it is important to note that you should not let the plastic touch your plants.
Once temperatures drop below 40°F, you may want to start covering your plants with a frost blanket depending on what you're growing, which we'll get into in just a bit. Freeze – A freeze is when the air temperature is 32°F or below.
Bed sheets or comforters work best for covering large plants and shrubs. Newspaper can be used on low-growing foliage, but it can often be difficult to get it to stay in place. You can also use old pillowcases, sheets, towels and even cardboard boxes.
For added protection when you protect plants in a freeze, you can place plastic over the sheets or blankets to help keep warmth in. Never cover a plant with just plastic, however, as the plastic will damage the plant. Make sure that a cloth barrier is between the plastic and the plant.
If you want to insulate your plants from the cold, don't use only garbage bags to cover them if they're not made from polyethylene. Use a layer of a blanket, towels, cardboard, or any insulating cloth between the plant and the garbage bag. Don't wrap the garbage bag very tightly where it's touching the leaves.
Yes – if you secure the plant properly. Garbage bags work to cover plants and protect from frost, but they must not be allowed to touch the plant's surface. Use stakes and supports to create a tent-like structure over the plant, which will retain warm air. Make sure the trash bag goes all the way to the ground.
With that in mind, experts generally recommend flowers and other houseplants be brought inside or otherwise protected before the thermometer dips below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. For warmer-weather and tropical plants, that threshold is a bit higher, at around the 50-degree mark.
If it stays cold for more than one night, can I keep my plants covered, or should I remove the coverings at some point? A. Our recommendation would be to remove the cold protection covering once temperatures are above 32 degrees.
Here is advice from plant and tree experts about protecting your plants in cold weather. If you don't have frost cloth, cover plants with lightweight cotton sheets or painters cloth that let in air and light. Burlap and blankets, even paper and cardboard will work, but take care not to weigh down the branches.
Plastic can be used to protect plants from frost, but it's not the best or most effective material. In fact, the horticultural experts here at Green Impressions actually recommend against it. Plastic materials such as vinyl and traditional camping tarps aren't breathable, causing moisture to get trapped inside.
Why use bed sheets to protect plants from frost? 'Using bed sheets in the garden to prevent plants from frost is a great way to protect your plants from the cold temperatures and keep them healthy,' explains Zeeshan Haider, the CEO of Greenery Enthusiast.
To know when to cover your plants, you need to know when the plants you have are susceptible to frost damage. Some frost-tender plants need to be covered as soon as the temperature hits 32°F, while others can handle lower temperatures and/or longer freezing periods.
Plants and perennials that require additional protection to survive your winter will need a deep layer of mulch added by mid November or later, when the ground is beginning to freeze. Do NOT add deep mulch too early or your plants will not be slowly exposed to colder temperatures, allowing them to acclimate for winter.
From that experience, I've found the best frost protection for your outdoor plants is either free or cheap. Cardboard boxes and brown grocery sacks make perfect frost cover and at the end of the season can be recycled. I keep various boxes on the patio and when frost is forecast simply put one over the plant.
Burlap is more effective than plastic because it allows the plant to breathe so air circulates and heat isn't trapped. Burlap for protecting plants can be as simple as an old burlap bag. If you don't have access to burlap bags, you can purchase sheet burlap by the yard at most fabric stores.
The easiest way to protect from a freeze is simply by covering plants with a sheet or a blanket. This acts like insulation, keeping warm air from the ground around the plant. The added warmth may be enough to keep a plant from freezing during a short cold snap.
Most roses can withstand a quick cold snap of temperatures down to 10 degrees F, but it is best to protect them if you expect an extended period of time when temperatures dip under 20 degrees F. The amount of protection your roses need depends on the climate in which you live.
-Don't make the mistake of thinking that a plant can remain covered for a few days when the weather calls for more than one night of frost. The protection needs to be taken off every morning when the sun comes out. Plants can't breathe under a heavy container, a layer of plastic or fabric.
Put coverings in place as soon as temperatures are below 36 °F (2 °C). Start the process of covering your plants for the winter when temperatures in your area fall to just above freezing in order to prepare them for the coming freezing temperatures.
Use a frost blanket, cloche or row cover material – not plastic — to insulate the ground around your outdoor plants and keep them warm. Prop the cover with sticks or stakes to keep it from coming into direct contact with the new growth. And, make sure to remove the cover the next morning after the temperature warms up.
Don't keep the coverings on your plants for more than two days in a row without removing them in the day since this can cause water to become trapped underneath, leading to fungal diseases and can cause plants to produce new growth that can be easily damaged by cold.
Moist soil may absorb more heat and radiate it throughout the night. Cover plants before sundown to trap the stored heat from during the day. If you wait to cover it until after nightfall, the heat may have dissipated. Use frost cloth, burlap, drop cloths, sheets, blankets, or even newspapers to cover plants.