ARTICLES :: Freezing Plants Dec 2009

Freezing Plants

By:  Melinda Sperl

After our record setting snow day, you probably have a lot of plants that turned brown.   To keep your yard looking nice, you may be tempted to cut those plants now but consideration for the time of year is to be considered.   And, while most of our plants are good at adapting to the weather changes, some may still die.  Ixora is one plant that is gaining volume here but it is very susceptible to freeze and you may loose them. 

In a perfect world you should just leave all your plants alone until the spring and let them do as nature intended.  But, you would have to live with unsightly plants for the next several months which is unsightly in a neighborhood.  I never recommend trimming more than 1/3 of any plants at any one time and now it is even more important.  Take into consideration that we probably will have at least one more freeze before spring comes and these plants are already stressed because of the freeze.  Then, cut only the parts of the plant that absolutely need to be trimmed but making sure that the base of the plant is kept above the ground, like grasses.  If  more than 1/3 of the plant needs to be trimmed, wait one more month and then cut another 1/3, and so on. 

Remember that is we have another freeze cover plants with anything but plastic and potted plants need special consideration so their roots do not freeze.

Happy Gardening!