01/12/2024
🌬 In the deep freeze of December 2022, many of our landscape plants were killed or severely damaged. We especially saw this in our more "Southern" plants like camellias, gardenias, Indian hawthorn, and even the usually tough-as-nails crepe myrtles experienced some damage.
Our local meteorologists are becoming more confident in the arctic blast heading our way in the next week, so I encourage you to start preparing now to do the best you can to minimize damage to our valuable landscape plants.
Plants can experience more freeze damage if the soil is dry. I don't think this will be an issue this week given the rain we received yesterday and the rain to come, but if by chance your landscape beds are dry, give them a good watering before the freezing temperatures.
Another thing that will help is giving your plants extra mulch. If you still have leaves in your lawn that haven't been raked up, then you have free mulch right there at your disposal to use. Straw or bark mulch are good as well. Just make sure you don't pile the mulch up on the trunk or main stems of the plant since that can also cause damage.
Sheets, blankets, plant covers, and inverted cardboard boxes can increase the air temperature around the plants by 2-4 degrees. If we get a deep freeze, this may not amount to much protection, but it's certainly worth a shot. If we get precipitation, you'll need to remove the covers if there is a danger of the extra weight causing the limbs to break.
It's time to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, gardening friends. Everyone stay safe and warm! ❄️