Knowledge from Olle Garden Bed: How to Prepare Your Garden For The First Frost

With the passing of summer, your autumn garden is in full swing, and you may have dreamed of spring flowers. However, before you can reap the rewards of autumn planting, you must prepare your garden for the first frost. Although there are many autumn gardening tasks, one of the most important tasks is to protect your yard from the coming cool weather. The following content also has some reference value for raised garden beds.

Next, you will find all the information about protecting and planting the garden, from the list of tools you need to useful tips. With this knowledge, your plants will not be the victims of cold weather, and your spring garden will be fully prepared.

Tools you need

To prepare your garden for cool weather, you need to collect some tools. Fortunately, many gardeners have collected them. Review the following points.

Gardening Glove
Rake
Hand trowel
Pruning shears
Landscape fabric
Bulbs, shrubs, trees (optional)
Cover

Prepare your garden for the first frost

Step 1: Bring plants indoors

Many outdoor plants cannot survive in cool weather, so please handle them before the first frost approaches. With this in mind, you need to determine which plants are at risk, such as summer container perennials and tropical plants. Don't worry about hardy plants such as lettuce, carrots and broccoli.

When frost is predicted, it is time to move these plants to a warm place - you can add tropical plants to your indoor plant collection, or store dormant perennial plants in the garage. Or, if the frost is not expected to last long, you can move the plants to a sunny place near the side of the house and expose them to the south.

Please remember to check and isolate the plants you bring into the room to avoid spreading diseases or pests.

Step 2: Protect plants

When you expect frost, protect the plants in the garden by covering them with landscape fabrics before sunset and pressing the corners with rocks. Use this method at night when the temperature drops to 28 degrees Fahrenheit.

In addition, placing heating lamps around plants is an ideal choice to protect them from cold weather. Just check your plants' requirements for light first In addition, a 3-inch layer of mulch, such as straw or newspaper, around the roots of these plants can insulate them and help them retain moisture.

Keep in mind that drought stressed plants are vulnerable to cold damage, so it is beneficial to water a few days before the predicted frost. In addition, when water freezes and expands, it acts as an insulator to protect plants from the cold.

When you expect frost, avoid fertilizing and pruning plants that are sensitive to cold. These tasks will encourage new growth, which is vulnerable to cold damage.

Step 3: Clean the garden

Remember to finish gardening chores in autumn before the first frost. It includes tasks such as harvesting final fruits and vegetables from summer crops. Take this opportunity to remove dead annual plants and plants, weed the garden and rake up leaves.

This is also the time to die and trim the dead head, which means you can collect the seeds of annual and perennial plants. You can use several different DIY options to store seeds, from simple envelopes to old TicTac containers.

Put used plants and overripe fruits or bolted vegetables into the composting container. However, please watch out for diseases or pests. If you find any signs, such as yellow leaves, withering or infection, it is better to throw them away and remove them from the compost.

Step 4: Planting spring bulbs, trees and shrubs

Although you should have started planting autumn gardens, it is best to plant spring bulbs, shrubs and trees before freezing temperatures. It will enable plants to develop strong roots. September and October are the recommended time for autumn planting, so it's better to start now!

Step 5: Treat the irrigation system

When you expect frost, it is essential to close and drain the water pipe. Freezing temperatures can damage your sprinkler system, garden hoses, and outdoor faucets, so draining them as soon as possible is critical. Store these basic irrigation systems indoors, in sheds, or under tarpaulins to protect them.

Don't let the frost sting!

Now you have a to-do list to complete before entering your garden on a cold night. First, introduce plants that cannot resist the cold, or place them in a sunny place or use a row cover to protect them. Then, clean the garden, start planting the spring garden, and drain the irrigation system. As a final tip, remember to check the weather forecast to see when the first frost will occur!