Tips to protect your plants, as Florida enters the deep freeze

“It’s freezin!” This is the number one topic in Florida the first week of January. One has to laugh because lots of Floridians are transplanted northerners. I have heard many garden owners complain about covering their plants. Depending on where you escaped from, covering your plants for a few nights is nothing compared to shoveling snow for six months.

Siobhan's veggies and annuals that need protection

Here are some Garden Fairy tips for protecting your plants from Florida’s once-in-a-while deep freezes.

What should I protect? Native plants are built for occasional freezes. If you live in the Tampa Bay area where the Garden Fairies originate from- you DO have to worry about tropical plants. Tampa Bay is in the sub-tropical zone, so plants like tropical palms and lots of other exotic plants need protection. Annuals are especially venerable to freezing temps. The good thing about this current spell is it came on slowly and our plants are acclimated to the chilly weather. One the other hand, if the weather man says below 32 degrees, pay attention. Note that plants on the north side of your home need extra protection. In the future try to plant your most tender plants in a south facing area of your home, protected by your house.

pulling the freeze cloth down to ground level is important

What is the best way to cover my plants? Cover the plants with something that reaches all the way to the ground to catch heat escaping into the air. For newly established plants, use a small light under the cover to generate a little heat. Note: It takes around two years to establish plants. I use a combo of freeze cloths, sheets and towels…any piece of cloth I can get my hands on!

How about plastic? Best to avoid plastic– it will catch ground heat, but leaves and branches holding it up can still freeze unless you put a cloth sheet underneath. Also, plastic has to come off during the daytime, or temperatures inside can rise enough to be harmful.

Should I pick the fruit on my trees? Citrus fruit freezes if temperatures drop below about 28 degrees for four hours, so picking ripe fruit now would be a good idea. If the tree is full of unripe fruit, you might want to protect it and leave the fruit in place.

When should I run sprinklers? Using sprinklers at night only works if you can continuously water an entire plant the whole night. But beware, layers of ice can get too heavy and break branches. It is helpful to water during the daytime, when temperatures are higher, because wet soil holds heat better than dry soil.

Will my sod be OK? Established sod will fare well, but watering any kind of sod will help, just make sure to water during the warm part of the day. Sod that has just been placed is at its most vulnerable, because it hasn’t built a new root system.

What do I do with them if my plants freeze? Be patient! Live with damaged plants until after the last freeze of the winter, then prune the damaged parts. If you cut away the dead areas now, plants can start growing again during the winter and the new branches will be especially fragile during the next cold snap. The rule of thumb for the last threat of freeze in Tampa Bay is mid February. Sometimes it’s hard to know what is truly dead. Scrape the bark a little to check– if you see green, your plant might be ready to go for another year.

Vicky's frozen-tundra log cabin in Wisconsin

Some of the Garden Fairies have moved back north or are Snow Birds. They have absolutely no sympathy for our complaining. Garden Fairy Vicky sent a photo of her log cabin being bombarded by blizzards, which in summer is surrounded by flowers.

More on freezing: Protecting your palms