FROST and FREEZE Protection Tips

When temperatures drop to freezing (32˚F) the water inside plants freezes too.  When temperatures reach below freezing (< 28˚F ) it begins to cause extensive cellular damage and loss of plant life. 

Protection methods prevent desiccation and heat loss.

s       WATER -Water loses heat more slowly than air, as  moisture is released from the soil during the night, the temperature of the air around the plant slightly increases. 

s       COVER -Stake and cover potted plants and small trees with frost cloth, burlap, linen or old bed sheets.

s       POTTED PLANTS -Bring succulent plants, like Aloe vera, and other sensitive potted plants INSIDE.

s       COLLECT HEAT -Place milk jugs painted black and filled with water around your plants where they will collect heat from the sun during the day.

s       MULCH -Heavily mulch perennial plants that are sensitive to frost or those that have not yet begun dormancy in the event of an early hard freeze.

frosty forest garden

Cover crops for your new Forest Garden…

crimson clover seedlings

When you are getting started with your Forest Garden there are inevitably spaces in your guilds which are not yet filled by the plants of your choice.  While you wait to 'grow in' or purchase those special species fill the empty spaces with specific annual and perennial cover crops designed to build soil and provide habitat. Your favorite plants will be healthier for it.

FYI: Cover crops mine nutrients from the subsoil and deposit them in the topsoil increasing nutrient availability for soil life to feed on.  A large and diverse population of critters in your soil ensures organic matter and humus production and also improves overall soil structure.  Cover crops also provide erosion control, increase water infiltration from rainfall and irrigation and provide competition for ‘weeds’.  Choose seasonal varieties for best results.  For forest gardening purposes we do not recommend using cover crops as ‘green manure’ which are cover crops grown for tilling  under (the soil before flowering).

Forest Gardening Tips AUTUMN

look closely, can you see the mantid egg sac?

Avoid dead heading all your flowers and shrubs.  There are many insects who have made use of your plants for their next generation... see photo above of praying mantid egg sac.

DO NOT BURN YOUR LEAVES!  Don't burn healthy wood debris either; shred it or leave it out for solitary bees and other beneficial insects.

Plant woody plants (trees, shrubs, groundcovers) after dormancy yet before the ground is too wet.

Ensure irrigation is functioning on an as needed basis. *Contact us to install a Rain Sensor.

you can see the egg sac pretty well here

Apply heavy mulches before your first Fall frost date (here); especially to marginally hardy plants.   Avoid crown rot with too much mulch on sensitive plants.

Build mulch stockpiles after you've spread out all you can.  Allow it to compost or use the extra mulch sporadically. 

Late Autumn Bloomers

A beneficial insects' dream...

Salvia greggii

Insects are busy now ensuring their eggs have been laid and their burrows and hide away's are secure and fully stocked.  They are out in the last rays of warm sunshine gathering the nectar and pollen from flowers that bloom into November's darkening days.

We too are feeling the slow down of summer's many harvests and one look to the pantry shows our storage efforts have paid off.  Yet there is more to think about in the garden...

We can aid the health of our gardens and next year's bounty by encouraging beneficial insects to stay around.  Providing them food during the winter by planting late blooming flowers will help the insects that don't hibernate or have yet to.  

In our region it gets cold but it doesn't truly feel like Winter until late January.  Plants like Salvia greggii (pictured above) will bloom well past Christmas with no major frost.