Protect your plants from freezing weather

Sherri Harrah:

So looks like we’re going to have some freezing temps. There’s a few things that we can do to help ensure that we get through the freeze and our plants do, too. So first, we want to come up with how are we going to protect our plants? So some things are a little more tender, and they need to be covered if we’re going to be frost or freeze, so materials called frost protection cloths, what you want to do. So these are insulated materials. You’ll see them in this green color or this white. These will insulate your plants probably about six degrees warmer underneath, and they don’t freeze to your plants. They’re breathable material, so unlike cotton sheets, which will just freeze to your plants, and plastic, which can freeze to your plants, and if we warm up, the plastic’s going to create a heat dome over that plant, which sounds great, but it will bake your plants underneath the plastic, so we want to use something that is made for frost protection.

So we’re going to show you. Of course, a lot of these plants… This is just for demonstration purposes only because most of these will make it through the winter. Now, some of these are in full beautiful bloom, and we want to keep them that way. So if we cover, we’re going to go right over the top and go all the way to the ground, and you need to make sure that your material touches the ground, and you secure it because the ground puts off heat. And so, we want to trap that heat under the cover. We do not want to make a lollipop and bind it right at the top of the plant. Whether that’s a big tree or a potted plant, we want to always go all the way to the ground. Get bricks, get pots, get whatever you can to secure it so that it’s not blowing off.

Another thing that you can do, we talk about MicroLife Super Seaweed all the time. Let’s say you don’t want to get out and cover everything. What you can do is mix this up, spray it on the leaves of your plants 12 to 24 hours before. It slows down the transpiration, making your plants more resilient in colder temperatures. So for more great tips, join us on Saturday morning, HomeShow Garden Pros, Sports Radio 610, 7:00 to 9:00.