A Full List Of Tips For Protecting Plants From Frost And Extreme Cold
The winter months provide a tricky environment for outdoor plants. The cold weather slows down a plant’s metabolism, meaning that photosynthesis and respiration decelerate, resulting in limited growth, so you may have found your outdoor plants dying. While each plant will have different tolerance levels to the cold, it’s best to take special care of your outdoor plants during the cold winter months.
Frosty temperatures, in particular are the most difficult for plants to survive in. Water can freeze inside the plant’s cells, which can end up destroying them from the inside and cause them to wilt. It’s pretty easy to spot a frost-damaged plant, as they will appear limp, blackened and distorted.
Prevention is better than cure to prepare your plants for the winter, so you should first bring inside any potted plants. Take a look at these tips to see how you can best protect your plants over the wintertime:
Avoid High-Nitrogen Fertilisers
High-Nitrogen fertilisers are great for the summertime as they encourage plants to make lots of sappy leaf growth, supporting rapid growth. However, as the nitrogen is normally soluble, in colder weather it is likely to be leached out by heavy rain and melting snow which will waste it.
Invest In Some Polypropylene Covers
For best protection, frost-sensitive plants should be treated with non-woven spun-bonded polypropylene covers. Not only will they be protected from harsh weather, but these covers also offer protection from certain pests.
Little Fields Farm supplies polypropylene covers easy for all your outdoor plants, which can be easily cut to whatever size you require. They offer a selection of netting specially targeted to frost-sensitive plants, so you know that your plants are getting the best protection.
Make Sure Your Plants Are In The Best Location
Location is essential if you want to keep your plants safe from frost. Areas of your garden flooded with the early morning sunshine can cause plants to ‘defrost’ too quickly, causing them to become limp. It’s best to keep them towards the east-facing areas of your garden to avoid this issue.
The lowest points in your garden are also worth avoiding, as cold air can sink, creating frost pockets that tender plants struggle to thrive in.
Choose Native Plants
To prevent your outdoor plants from dying in your garden over the winter, choose the ones which grow best in your current climate. As enjoyable as the idea may be, there’s not much chance of growing mangoes over here in the UK, and it pays to be realistic about which plants will be able to survive a cold winter before you take the next steps.
Many beautiful flowers can survive an English winter, including Coneflowers, Lily of the Valley, Blue Spruce, Wintergreen Boxwood, Pansies and Primroses. A wide range of winter veggies also thrives off the cold weather!