Protecting Your Plants From Frost

By Victoria Fuller As we bundle up with scarves and gloves it’s important to remember that our gardens could also use some TLC during the colder months! Now as adorable as little miniature botanical knitwear would be, we have some more practical suggestions for how you can protect your garden from frost. WHY BOTHER? First of all: how dare you, how could you be so cruel? Secondly: it just makes sense! If you protect the investment that you have already made in your outdoor space then it will save you time, effort, and money during the next growing season (however far in the distance that may currently seem *sheds single frozen tear*). Also plenty of the suggestions in this blog involve items that you almost certainly already have lying around the house so the amount of effort you will have to devote to your Winter care is minimal, win win! SHOULD I PROTECT ALL OF MY PLANTS? We aren’t suggesting that you should play favourites in the garden but the fact of the matter is certain plants simply need a little more attention than others, in fact certain plants and shrubs don’t need any extra care at all! Having a Cedar Planters raised garden bed or planter box is a solid start to protecting your plants as the Western Red Cedar helps to insulate the soil and plants within! Some plants that don’t require any extra coddling this frosty season are Boxwoods, Holly, Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Junipers, and Gardenias. This is just a small sample so make sure to do a little research before you start bundling up every plant in your outdoor space! WINTER COVERS If you have a raised garden bed or planter box then you will have no trouble at all finding a Winter Cover with frosts and longevity in mind. Cedar Planters even have Winter Covers custom designed with our products in mind for a perfect fit. If you are looking for a Winter Cover substitution for the rest of your garden there are plenty of material options that will suffice at providing some extra insulation and protection from the elements such as fleece, bubble wrap, blankets, straw, and newspaper! CLOCHES These beautiful glass (or sometimes plastic) protectors are fantastic at protecting your smaller plants and seedlings from frost. You can even make your own DIY cloches out of plastic bottles and other materials that you probably already have lying around! This awesome article by “Balcony Garden Web” with some fantastic ideas on how you can create your own cloches! In our opinion the best part about having these quirky little protectors in your garden is the resemblance that they have to the iconic Beauty and the Beast rose, if romanticizing an upside down plastic water bottle in our garden is wrong then we don’t want to be right! MULCHING We are all about that Mulch here at Cedar Planters. Organic matter (such as straw or wood chips) not only helps to add nutrition to your soil but it also helps to insulate your garden! Adding a layer of Mulch around the settling of the first frost is the perfect time to reap all of the benefits of this nutritious organic matter! Wood chips and leaves make ideal mulch at this time of year. TAKING YOUR PLANTS INDOORS There are plenty of traditionally outdoor-dwelling plants that will happily make the transition indoors! Some common plants that can handle being transplanted are Begonias, Fuchsias, Geraniums, Hibiscus, Hot Peppers, Herbs (such as Basil, Chives, Parsley, Lemon Grass, and Rosemary to name but a few!) and many more! The trick to a successful transplant is to ensure that any plants that you move indoors have ample sunlight, water, and the correct temperature for them to thrive! EARLY MORNING WATERING During the colder months many people believe that watering their gardens can be detrimental to the success of their plants but this is untrue! Watering your plants early in the morning gives the soil time to absorb the water and thus insulates the root system for the rest of the day, early morning watering also generally lowers the chances of the water freezing and damaging your roots! CONCLUSION In conclusion we hope that you will implement some of these tips and tricks and give your garden the best chance to thrive against the dreaded frosts (studio audience boos). As always we want to hear from you as well! Do you have any tried and true methods for protecting your plants against frost? Please feel free to let us know in the comments below!