How to Protect Your Plants During A Freeze

Unexpected freezes can be devastating to landscapes and gardens. Knowing how to protect plants from freezing and what the best way is to cover them can be vital to keeping your plants alive.

At What Temperature Do Plants Freeze?

Different plants freeze and die at different temperatures. When buying new plants, check their hardiness zone. The hardiness zone will tell you the minimum temperature that plant can survive at (Boerne is zone 8b).

There are also different definitions of survival. Some plants may lose all their leaves during a freeze but are able to regrow from the stem or roots. So, while the leaves cannot survive a certain temperature, other parts of the plant can.

How to Protect Your Plants

If you’re expecting a light freeze, which is what we normally get in the Texas Hill Country, covering the plant with a sheet or blanket can suffice. By doing this, the sheet or blanket acts as insulation by keeping warm air from the ground around the plant. For added protection, you can add plastic over the existing blanket or sheet. However, you never want to cover your plants with only plastic (this can damage the plant), so make sure there is a cloth barrier between the plastic and plant. Make sure you remove the sheets and blanket and plastic first thing in the morning after an overnight freeze. If not, condensation can build up and freeze again under the covering, which can harm the plant.

If you’re trying to protect your plants from a longer or deeper freeze, start by heavily mulching the roots with wood mulch or hay. You can also nestle warm jugs of water into the mulch to add some extra protection against the cold. Watering only the soil around the plant, not stems and leaves, will also help the soil retain heat and can help the plant’s roots and lower branches survive.