Final month’s arctic blast introduced surprisingly frigid temperatures to Florida. We had three consecutive nights with temperatures within the low 20s – and an final low of round 18 levels! A number of our outside vegetation aren’t constructed for that sort of freezing climate (within the 3 winters we’ve spent right here we will keep in mind one different low of about 32-degrees, however issues went proper again as much as our extra regular lows of round 45 levels inside a couple of hours). They’re calling our current deep freeze a “once-in-a-century occasion” right here in Florida. In different phrases: the last word take a look at. So listed below are the steps we took to guard our vegetation, together with a couple of issues that labored higher than others.

It ought to be stated that there are positively greater issues to fret about throughout excessive chilly climate occasions – like defending folks, pets, and pipes. However you’ll typically see vegetation because the 4th “P” on that listing of issues to verify on in freezing climate. And since we’ve spent a superb quantity of money and time on our landscaping, we figured it was definitely worth the effort to guard what we may, particularly if some up-front effort may save us the money and time of replanting issues that might in any other case die with no little assist.

Tip 1: Establish Crops Susceptible To Freezing

To prioritize your efforts, attempt to be taught which vegetation are the least able to surviving in your forecasted temperatures. Presumably, most of them are designed to outlive in your rising zone (discover your zone right here). Nonetheless, that may not be sufficient data if the climate is predicted to be abnormally chilly – particularly for 3-4 days in a row. Going into this “arduous freeze” we googled “chilly tolerance” or “chilly hardiness” together with the identify of every plant we had exterior.* It’s an excellent start line for studying which vegetation we should always concentrate on, and which might hopefully be simply high-quality. For instance, we discovered that our noticed palmettos wouldn’t want our assist, however our foxtail ferns may.

*NOTE: In the event you don’t know the identify of your plant, your iPhone digital camera can assist (without spending a dime!) or strive an app like PictureThis.

Tip 2: Convey Crops Inside, If Attainable

The surest method to maintain your vegetation from getting too chilly is to convey them inside the place it’s heat. In fact, that is simpler stated than finished. Many vegetation may be dug within the floor, too heavy to maneuver, and/or too massive to suit indoors. However issues like small-to-medium pots or hanging planters are good candidates for transporting inside. You’ll must be the choose of what’s cheap in your dwelling.

As you’ll see in these photos, we’ve got A LOT of potted vegetation exterior. Some may name us loopy for bringing so many inside – particularly contemplating we’ve received a small dwelling and this freeze was taking place whereas we have been celebrating Christmas. However we laid out some tarps by a few lesser-used doorways and crammed as many pots as we may onto them. The tarps protected the flooring from dust and any residual water within the soil (keep in mind that outside pots have drainage holes on the underside). It was barely inconvenient for a couple of days, however this turned out to be the one technique that had a 100% success charge.

By bringing so many pots inside, we in all probability saved over $500 in vegetation that we would’ve needed to substitute in any other case. It was positively value it. Even when it did imply breaking out a dolly to tug our massive fiddle leaf fig off the entrance porch and into the kitchen! It truly doesn’t look half dangerous in right here… aside from the truth that it made entering into the laundry closet kinda tight.

If bringing your vegetation indoors to your heated area isn’t attainable, even relocating them right into a protected space like a storage, basement, or attic may very well be sufficient to maintain them alive. Potted vegetation are particularly susceptible to chilly as a result of their soil is much less insulated than these dug into the bottom. And getting them out of the wind helps to reduce warmth loss.

Tip 3: Add Pine Straw Or Mulch

For vegetation staying exterior, your foremost technique helps them keep as heat as attainable. One approach is so as to add a layer of contemporary mulch to your plant beds, particularly across the bases of your vegetation. Mulch truly helps entice air round your vegetation – significantly when utilizing a light-weight materials like straw or pine straw – which insulates them in opposition to dramatic drops in temperature. It may possibly additionally assist retain moisture and, surprisingly, moist soil truly retains extra warmth than dry soil.

Mulching does require a little bit of time, effort, cash, and planning. Fortunately, we already had plans so as to add contemporary pine straw to our yard as a result of we had company visiting for the vacations. We wished the clear look of freshly mulched beds and the chilly safety was a pleasant bonus! It’s additionally an excellent tip to water all your freshly mulched vegetation earlier than the chilly. As I stated above, we have been shocked to listen to that as a tip from loads of native backyard facilities – however moist soil retains extra warmth than dry soil. So sprinkle away.

Tip 4: Cowl Crops With Breathable Cloth

In the event you’ve ever seen somebody throw a blanket, towel, or sheet over their vegetation, that’s one other fashionable method to attempt to maintain some warmth round your vegetation. The duvet traps heat air across the plant in the identical means {that a} blanket retains us people heat – however as a substitute of trapping physique warmth, it retains the warmth that’s coming off the plant and soil. We figured it wouldn’t be foolproof with such low forecasted temps, however we knew even when it saved half of what we lined it might be value it. And we picked up some tricks to make it as profitable as attainable that we’ll share with you under.

Use breathable cloth, not plastic

It might sound counterintuitive however utilizing breathable cloth so air can nonetheless circulate across the plant was the primary tip from native nurseries and on-line plant specialists alike. We learn over and over {that a} plastic drop fabric or plastic bag may be worse than no safety in lots of circumstances, since it could actually maintain moisture in opposition to plant tissues and trigger extra severe freeze harm. Simply take into consideration the way you’d really feel lined in plastic vs cloth. Not enjoyable, proper? That’s why issues like spare bedsheets or towels are good options that you could be have already got round.

In the event you can’t discover frost blankets, strive panorama cloth as a substitute

We don’t have many spare sheets, so we purchased a number of of those Frost Blankets once we first noticed the forecast. However a couple of days later, once we went again to seize a pair extra, the shop was utterly bought out. Fortunately, somebody there instructed us that panorama cloth – the sort meant to dam weeds – is an analogous materials, making it an acceptable substitute. We discovered it to be a bit of thinner than the Frost Blankets, but it surely was additionally cheaper. And ultimately, they each appeared to carry out about the identical.

Don’t “lollipop” your vegetation

Ensure your blankets go all the way in which to the bottom. Your soil is the principle supply of the warmth that the blanket shall be trapping, so simply wrapping the leafy high (like a lollipop wrapper) isn’t as efficient. When draping bushes or small timber, suppose extra about making “ghosts” the place your cowl makes contact with the bottom on all sides. Additionally, don’t neglect to purchase some backyard stakes or panorama pins to maintain your covers held down – particularly if it’s going to be windy!

Tip 5: Add An Ambient Warmth Supply

To extend the quantity of heat air your blanket will entice, you may as well introduce one other warmth supply. Somebody tipped us off that wrapping incandescent Christmas lights round your plant or by means of your plant beds is an effective way to do that. LEDs received’t work as a result of they don’t give off warmth, however the old-school ones – particularly the bigger C9 bulbs – are barely heat and identified to work nicely. Simply watch out to not overload your breakers with too many strands. Right here’s what ours seemed like earlier than we lined them.

And right here’s what they seemed like after we put the frost blankets over them. I used to be kinda fairly, in a spooky kind of means!

We’ve additionally heard of individuals filling milk jugs with scorching water and putting them close to their vegetation. The identical precept is at work, however this seemed like a extra labor-intensive approach. Plus, since this was taking place on Christmas weekend for us, we had no bother discovering loads of discounted C9 bulbs on the retailer. We received 4 packing containers for the worth of 1!

How Did Our Crops Fare?

After taking the entire above actions, I’d like to say that our landscaping appears nearly as good because it did earlier than the chilly snap (see the way it seemed this fall right here). It positively doesn’t. Regardless of our efforts, we, sadly, have loads of vegetation – particularly tropicals – that simply aren’t constructed for the acute sustained “arduous freeze” that we skilled for 3 strong days in a row.

I want there was a transparent takeaway like “blankets work” or “C9 bulbs are wonderful each time” however our outcomes have been too blended to attract such decisive conclusions. Some lined vegetation did nice (as in, they seemed pristine once we uncovered them) and a few didn’t. It’s doubtless that many if not all of our lined vegetation may come again primarily based on the bottom/root seeming to be unaffected and solely the leaves trying limp (usually leaves can come again if their root/stem is okay) however they don’t all look nice proper now. We’ll must replace you on how issues fare, so keep tuned for that.

However our overview is that whereas some lined vegetation had lights and a few didn’t, each teams had some vegetation that seemed nice upon uncovering them and a few actually wilted ones (which once more may utterly come again, however they don’t look nice now). As soon as once more: bringing vegetation inside was the one 100% success charge we had.

We predict loads of this “diversified consequence” may very well be associated to particular plant species and planting areas. For example, one among our lime timber appears utterly high-quality (see under) and the opposite is principally lined in brown leaves and all of the fruit dropped off. Each have been mulched and lined, however with out C9 bulbs. Our greatest guess is that one was much more uncovered to the wind than the opposite one because the happier one (seen under) was in a nook the place there have been two fence sides as wind breaks. Most of our extra tropical vegetation like monsteras, elephant ears, and gingers received completely limp, however our philodendrons fared okay with not less than a couple of happy-looking leaves and a base that’s already capturing up new wholesome leaves.

We’ve a number of fiddle leaf figs planted exterior as a result of we’ve had higher luck with them outdoor right here than inside. Over the previous 3 winters they’ve been exterior & very comfortable, so we introduced within the potted one which we may, and for those that have been planted within the floor, we lined, mulched, and wrapped them in Christmas lights. The outcomes? One one got here out utterly unscathed (under proper). And, to our shock, it was the smallest and most just lately planted of the entire bunch. The truth is, that entire mattress it was in did fairly nicely. So possibly it was simply in a hotter nook of our yard which as soon as once more had two fences assembly to kind a wind break round it?

The one motive we really feel okay concerning the different figs trying so bleak is that we’ve got seen a fiddle leaf fig utterly die inside our home (dropped all leaves, was a dead-looking stick) and once we put it exterior it utterly regrew into an excellent large and wholesome tree. So we’re holding out hope that occurs once more with these. Will maintain you posted for positive.

So, once more, it’s arduous to attract clear conclusions about what of this effort labored… not less than not but… but it surely feels protected to say that it didn’t harm to attempt to we’ve got excessive hopes for a lot of issues coming again this spring. (*crosses all fingers and toes*)

What’s The Good Information?

As I’ve talked about in relation to limp vegetation or brown leaves, all hope just isn’t misplaced. There’s an enormous distinction between a useless leaf and a useless plant, so simply because plenty of our leaves are brown and wilted, doesn’t imply the entire plant’s a goner. They might simply want time to shed their frozen bits and regrow new ones when the climate heats up once more. The truth is, a few of our vegetation have already began to indicate indicators of life (it has been about 3 weeks because the freeze).

So not solely must you not bounce to conclusions about what survived and what didn’t, this leads us to our final tip…

Tip 6: Don’t Prune Proper Away

As antsy as we’re to wash up the entire dead-looking vegetation in our yard, lots of the specialists we googled (and chatted with domestically) say that our vegetation will truly do higher if we wait. Suggestions differ barely from plant to plant, however usually, listed below are some causes to place your shears away (for now):

You may reduce off wholesome branches or dig up wholesome vegetation

You in all probability received’t know what components of the plant are actually useless immediately. Some harm could not seem instantly, whereas some rough-looking vegetation could bounce again in a couple of days. Nonetheless, others received’t sprout once more till the spring. You wouldn’t choose the well being of a tree primarily based on its empty branches within the winter, proper? So by ready for issues to start out greening up once more, you’ll have a a lot clearer concept of what vegetation (or components of your vegetation) didn’t survive.

Lifeless leaves can nonetheless defend your plant

Till you’re previous your space’s final attainable frost (verify your frost dates right here) there’s at all times an opportunity you’ll expertise one other chilly snap this season. That useless materials can nonetheless supply some insulation to the dwelling components of the plant, whereas eradicating them leaves every plant extra uncovered to chilly and wind than earlier than.

You don’t need to stress your plant extra

After a freeze occasion, your plant focuses its assets on preserving its core alive and wholesome. That’s what you need it to do. Reducing branches or eradicating leaves too quickly may set off a development response, which could unnecessarily “distract” its assets. Plus, if pruning does end in new development, these new leaves change into much more susceptible to future freezes this season if one other chilly entrance rolls round.

Usually, we’ve adopted the rule of letting broken leaves and flowers fall off on their very own (even when it means ready for brand spanking new development to push them off within the spring). However for something that’s mushy or gross, which tends to occur on some tropicals (see above), we take away that sooner to forestall rot. This occurred to one among our largest elephant ears final 12 months throughout our one and solely temporary frost, but it surely grew again simply as massive this 12 months. Fingers crossed it does that once more!

So regardless that our yard doesn’t look fairly the way in which we wish it to proper now, we’re reserving last judgment on what labored and what didn’t till spring and summer season rolls round. We’re hopeful that extra issues survived than it appears and, if not, we’ll reevaluate if we need to danger replanting the identical factor as a substitute. A neighbor of ours stated she likes to take a look at these moments as a possibility for issues to come back again hardier and stronger, so we’re hoping that holds true for our vegetation.

Further Freezin Climate Preparation

Our vegetation weren’t the one factor we took steps to guard throughout this current chilly snap. Because it was our first time having such low temperatures in our Florida home, we protected our pipes from freezing too. A number of of our neighbors skilled burst pipes – particularly of their outside showers. However fortunately the steps we took spared us from having the identical bother!

Our warmth additionally stayed on this time, which was a giant assist, however we’ve additionally written about methods to forestall frozen pipes when your warmth goes out.

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