When To Winterize Your Gardens. The best time to start winterizing gardens is after the first hard freeze in the fall. A hard freeze occurs when the temperature gets below freezing overnight, killing off tender annual plants and vegetables.
Once the first hard freeze has occurred, apply 2 to 4 inches of straw, pine needles, hay, compost, leaves, bark chips or other organic mulch evenly around the plants.
A fabric covering is best because it will allow moisture to escape while still protecting your plants from frost. Fabric coverings will prevent the freezing air from coming into direct contact with the moisture on the plant while also capturing the heat that is radiating from the ground.
When the weather forecaster warns of an overnight freeze, cover your plants with burlap, an old sheet or blanket, or clear plastic. Use stakes or another support to keep the covering from directly touching the plants.
It's important to cut back foliage in the fall to protect flowering plants from disease and give them a clean start for regrowth as winter starts to turn into spring. However, there are some plants you can keep around through the winter since they benefit wildlife and still offer visual interest for your home.
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.
Despite the fact your plants are dormant and brown, they should still be watered periodically. Plants that remain dehydrated in winter months often don't survive until spring. Not only does this create extra landscaping costs in warmer months, it can actually damage your plumbing.
Avoid watering when temperatures are below 40°F or when sustained freezing temperatures are expected within 24 hours as this water will freeze and not be available to the plants.
If the soil is dry and the cold front is not preceded by rainfall, water the landscape before the freeze. Watering 24 to 48 hours before the freeze will elevate the night temperatures by 2 degrees. Don't overdo it. A soggy soil is not healthy for plant roots and will create root disease problems down the line.
Cover the plants with beds sheets, light drop cloths or blankets, row covers (frost blankets), burlap, cheesecloth, etc. Drape the covering over the plants like an umbrella. Anchor the edges down to capture heat from the soil and hold it around the plants, and to some extent, keep frost from settling on the foliage.
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.
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.
Also, do not cut back hardy perennials like garden mums (Chrysanthemum spp.), anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), red-hot poker (Kniphofia uvaria), and Montauk daisy (Nipponanthemum nipponicum). Leave the foliage. It's important to protect the root crowns over winter.
One obvious sign of dead floras is mushy and fragile stems plus roots. Once a plant has reached this stage, no home remedies will save it.
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.
When should I wrap my plants for winter? This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook suggests to start wrapping your plants in November. If your plants are new, be sure to cover them for the first two years. The older your plants get, the sturdier they become in surviving winters.
Container plants are particularly vulnerable to the cold because their roots aren't in the ground. If possible, move plants inside a garage, shed or basement. If you're leaving them outside, push them together and cover them. Wrap the containers in plastic or burlap to help them stay warmer.
Can You Use Garbage Bags to Cover Your Plants? Usually, covering plants with any plastic material isn't safe. However, you can cover your plants with garbage bags to protect them from pests and pest-carried diseases and sometimes excess moisture from too much rainfall.
An inverted cardboard box, frost blankets, sheets or even a tarp can help. If possible, rig up something to allow air space between the covering and plant. I have used tomato cages or stakes with a sheet and tarp over them. Leave the plants covered until we are back up above freezing.
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.
To protect plants with a covering of ice the spray of water must start just before freezing temperatures begin and continue constantly until they end. Liquid water must be continually applied for the protective benefits to occur.