How To Protect Your Trees From Frost
We focus a lot of care and effort to ensure our trees thrive. When winter hits, it’s important to protect our trees from frost. You could just plant frost-tolerant plants or make sure to plant your trees and other vegetation in a protected area, but sometimes that isn’t an option if you’ve got pre existing plants that can’t be moved and need some winter attention.
Quick Frost Protection Tips:
Protect your trees and other plants by covering them: use cloth or paper, not plastic, to insulate. Sheets or blankets provide minimal protection.
- Applying water: keep plants well watered. frost forms ice crystals on the leaves of trees and other plants which removes the moisture from the leaf tissue. help your plant recover that moisture by watering it well.
- Applying heat: a 100-watt electric light bulb in an outdoor rated fixture can give off enough warmth to heat covered plants. Make sure you buy a bulb that actually gives off heat (unlike an LED). Walls, benches, tables, chairs, statues, etc. that are exposed the the heat of the sun during the day can also be good sources of heat at night if placed near the plants.
- Wrap the trunk: this will prevent serious frost damage. Looser wrapping is better for insulation, but make sure the covering goes all the way from the lower branches/limbs to the ground.
- Do not prune frost-damaged plants until they begin growing in the spring.
It is important to understand how cold whether impacts your trees and other plants in addition to understanding the plant’s response to the cold. Learn more about preventing frost damage, heat transfer, reducing heat loss, utilizing heat from the immediate surroundings, and common symptoms of frost damage and treatment HERE, complements of The College of Agriculture at The University Of Arizona.
###
PODCAST
Justin Rohner of Agriscaping.com‘s featured tree is the Canyon Hackberry, a desert adapted, semi-deciduous shade tree that can sustain growth in rocky type soil. Plus, we cover tips on the best trees to plant right now for fruit and shade. We also discuss Justin’s levels of frost protection ahead of winter including the proper method to cover plants.
Podcast Archive With Expanded Content and Resources
__________
Certified Arborist Sarah Maitland is joined by Arborist Richard Adkins to discuss the Tree Of The Month the Canyon Hackberry. Rather scraggly when young but matured has surprising benefits including shade. Tips on frost protection from proper use of frost cloth to watering for winter. Fall fertilizing, learning about ‘Forest Bathing’ and a surprise call from the originator of the Talking Trees hour John Eisenhower!
Podcast Archive With Expanded Content and Resources
PHOTO CREDIT
CONTENT RESOURCE