If the weather is a little too cold and your plants a little too sensitive, here are some tips to follow to protect your garden in the winter. It all depends on the sensitivity of the plants, the external temperature and its duration and how much energy you want to use. For some combinations of climate and plants, more attention will not help them grow, but in many cases it can make a difference.
Steps
Step 1. Take potted plants indoors
The simplest solution in the cold is to simply remove the plants from the low temperature areas. If you have potted plants or outdoor flower baskets, bring them indoors. Even taking them to the garage or a solarium will be fine, as it will allow you to raise the temperature by at least 10 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are good at this, your best bet is to place the plants inside your home as a decoration. They will benefit from the warmth they need without hindering your spaces.
- Place potted plants near windows or in a bright spot. Windows facing east and west are ideal because they receive more light than those facing north and south.
- Avoid placing potted plants in ventilated places, as they may wither or even die.
- Placing them too close to windows can also damage them, because if it is too cold outside, the frost can transfer to the plants through contact with the glass.
Step 2. Apply a layer of mulch
Mulch acts as an insulator, retaining heat and moisture in the soil. It is used to protect the roots of plants from cold temperatures. Often it is not the low temperatures that spoil a plant, rather the sudden change between hot / cold or freezing / thawing. Similarly, cold soil can prevent water from being absorbed by the plant. Regardless of the reason, applying a 2-3cm layer of mulch will help prevent these problems.
- Mulch is made from wheat or pine straw, is easy to remove and is a great insulator.
- Some plants, such as roses and strawberries, can be overwintered by completely covering them with a clean layer of mulch.
- Isolation works in two ways. It can prevent the ground from cooling down too quickly, but also the opposite and that is that it heats up just as quickly with the arrival of high temperatures. You should remove the mulch once spring arrives.
Step 3. Cover the plants
Cover them with an old blanket or tarpaulin. If you need to protect your plants for a few days, especially on cold winter nights, you can simply cover them with an old blanket. Once you have chosen the most suitable cover, place it on the seedlings so as not to touch the leaves or branches. To avoid direct contact with the plant, you could use a couple of stakes to support the canopy. This method is ideal for protecting plants from frost rather than low temperatures, because it doesn't actually help increase the outside temperature.
- Discover the plants during the day so that they can receive the necessary light and air.
- Remember to attach the tarp to the ground or to a pole to keep it from flying away.
Step 4. Build a greenhouse
You can build a simple greenhouse by bending thin arched metal bars and attaching them to your garden soil. Then, place a clear plastic sheet over the arches to cover the plants below. This method is ideal for trapping heat and blocking frost and is the best solution for protecting plants during the winter… On the other hand, it is a method that requires some effort and is certainly not an immediate solution.
- You can opt for a permanent greenhouse, with a side window to keep open on hot days.
- Build a tunnel greenhouse by following these simple instructions.
- Make sure greenhouse plants get adequate ventilation. You can compare the interior temperature to that of your car on a particularly sunny day. If daytime temperatures are excessively hot, just open the side window to allow air to circulate. If you don't, the plants inside could overheat or too much moisture could build up.
Step 5. Water the plants
Water the soil abundantly in anticipation of a very cold night. The soil will retain heat better and the water will evaporate slowly, heating the air around the plants. Do not do this if a frosty night is forecast, as it could backfire even though good soil irrigation helps plants retain the heat of the day during the night.
- Do not water frozen soil, as this could make the situation worse.
- Do not water succulents abundantly, as it is well known that they do not tolerate humidity.
Step 6. Provide the plants with a source of heat
To prepare your plants for excessively cold weather, protect them with an adequate source of heat. Cover them with a plastic sheet or blanket, build a makeshift greenhouse (both of which have already been mentioned), and introduce a heat source inside. Possible heat sources include Christmas lights or a 100-watt light bulb; in fact, these are not so hot as to damage the plants, but they are hot enough to increase their temperature. Do not place the heat source in direct contact with your plants; move it away slightly so as to raise the temperature without burning them.
- Use outdoor extension cords and approved materials to avoid any dangers.
- During the day, uncover the plants and turn off the heat source to allow for adequate ventilation. This will also help prevent any fires from overheating the bulbs.
Step 7. Choose plants suitable for your climate
This is certainly the most convenient solution. Learn to recognize the climate in which you live (in the USA there is a classification system managed by the USDA) or at least to know which are the periods of the year with more or less rigid temperatures, in order to be able to choose the plants that best they adapt to this climate. Some plants may wither, others lose their leaves, and still others hibernate in winter. Learn to recognize and manage them based on the climate in which you live. The downside to this approach, of course, is that it limits plant selection.
- Annual plants are those that die each year and need to be replanted each time if they haven't reproduced on their own. In colder climates it is possible to grow perennials as if they were annuals, if they do not survive the winter. The growing season of annual plants can be extended with the help of shelters or simply by growing them in a greenhouse.
- Perennials are those that keep growing from year to year. For these, you have to learn about all the care they need to survive through the winter.
- Ask your local nurseries for advice on how to manage your plants during the winter. You can also ask where it is best to plant them and how to care for them before buying them.
- Look for varieties and cultivars that suit your climate. There are more resistant varieties than others, which makes them ideal for cold environments.
Advice
- Learn about the plants you intend to grow, find out how well they tolerate the cold, how to protect them from frost and the best way to overwinter them. Some plants tolerate coverings and decantings better than others.
- If a plant has lived indoors for a long time or if it was born indoors, try to move it out gradually, starting an hour a day and progressing little by little. This procedure is called "Hardening" and helps the plant to adapt to the outdoors gradually.
