Before and After Freezing Temperatures

We've been having some really late cold snaps this year. Here are some quick tips for protecting plants in your garden from late-season frosts:

Before
Add a layer of mulch (newsprint, sheets, whatever - but NOT plastic) around the base of tender tropicals.

Place heavy cardboard boxes over tender bedding plants, blooming azaleas, and lilies. Remove them as soon as the temperature rises above 32 degrees.

Water your plants well before a frost, and then again before the day warms up. The before watering drives the air from the soil, and protects tender roots. Watering after will reduce evaporation and prevent Freezer Burn.

If Damage Occurs:

Remove the frozen, mushy parts from tropical bulbs and herbaceous perennials such as crinums, spider lilies, amaryllis, etc.

Never prune woody plants until they are dead-dormant in winter, or you are beginning to see new growth in the spring. Pruning them too early will encourage new growth, which is guaranteed to freeze.

Never add nitrogen-rich fertilizers when there's still a possibility of a freeze. This, too, will encourage new growth.

Spray shrubs (azaleas, camellias, pittosporum, ligustrum, osmanthus, viburnum, boxwood, etc.) with a fungicide soon after a dry freeze. This will prevent infection from entering the small fissures caused by the freeze and thaw on stems and branches.

Because our temperatures are inconsistent, there is never a fool-proof way to determine exactly when "winter" is over. Most years, I plant early and take my chances. If the new bedding plants freeze, I yank them and start over - never think you can bring back something that's had a bad start. You will still be fighting it when the heat of summer arrives in May. Our plants need all the head start on the heat and humidity they can get....