Im so glad there’s a RU-vid Gardner out there who is sharing my current pain right now! This snow is really putting a damper on everything! Thanks for this!
Freaking out here north of Toronto 😳🌨️ My gardens were looking so beautiful now it's a combination of bamboo and old sheets, upsidedown pots, Frost cloth. Hydrangeas and young trees wrapped. My plastic greenhouse has a small space heater in it on a timer. It's FULL of plants that were in the process of hardening off. There is also an old quilt on the roof. Good luck to everyone over the next 2 nights.
I wish you would have walked us through your garden and showed what you covered and how. Don't get me wrong, you give great information and are very good at explaining each method and I appreciate it all. It's just nice to actually see the methods in use so we can make a visual connection
You want to buy garden fleece and cover the plants in the ground with it. Either directly, or make low tunnels and use the fleece as the covering. UV treated greenhouse plastic work better but they are expensive. For isolated plants you can cover them with garden fleece and put a 5 gallon bucket over that. For trees, wrap the whole thing with fleece. Double layering the fleece might be a good idea to give a bit of security against the wind chills.
Covered most of my garden with a variety of fleece, greenhouse plastic, whatever I could find that wasn't too heavy, even gathered up all my containers that have been potted up and covered them with plastic in a sheltered spot. They'll be hanging out in their tents until Friday. Ready for spring!!!
We had a navel orange tree on a hillside in an area that got freezing temperatures in the winter. We draped it with old style incandescent Christmas lights and turned on the lights when it got cold. The lights generated enough heat to protect the tree. The other thing we did was run a sprinkler underneath the tree. There was some water buildup on the tree but the primary thing was the temperature of the water was above 32° and it radiated that warmer temperature out up over the tree. Both methods were very successful.
I have always appreciated your sense of humor Luke. I Enjoy the knowledge you share and I have learned much. I also very much appreciate your infectious joyful attitude, which is a blessing on a whole different level. Thanks for sharing.
This happened last year in indiana in may. Blackberry winter. Remember. You get dogwood winter, redbud winter and blackberry winter. Get out those sheets baby!
Robert Frost wrote a poem for such occasions, called: Good-By and Keep Cold. I have memorized it. "How often already have you had to be told? Good-by, young orchard. Good -by and keep cold. Dread fifty above more than fifty below!"
Thanks Luke! I'm in Barrie, ON and have clear plastic bins over my lettuce and fleece over my peas. As tempted as I was to put out my peppers and tomatoes, I knew the nice weather was too good to be true. I'm glad my warm weather things are happy under the grow lights still. We're expecting snow tonight and tomorrow. So hard to wait!
My plants are still in the cold frame so I hope they will be OK. The only thing that I might lose are my greengage plums. They were just flowering and they are too tall to try to protect them. Just so grateful that I didn't have anything in the ground yet since it really has been too cold and wet here. Hope everyone's garden pulls through.
Tennessee is very crazy this year. I'm not planting my peppers and tomatoes out until May. I just don't trust the weather here. So I will be covering the brambles, blueberries, and the hydrangeas. My fruit trees are on their own...sorry figs, but at least I will get a second harvest from you...I can't say that from my peaches. My kiwis still haven't flowered so I'm sure they'll bounce back. they already started doing so from the last time. The elderberries seem to be unaffected by the cold snaps too.
Yup, I was going to put out my plants two weeks ago but something stayed my hand. Then a freaking blizzard hit a couple days ago, whiteout conditions for a couple hours. Unbelievable! I'm so thankful I waited. Of course, my plant room looks like a jungle right now... Lol!
Thanks Luke! 💜 I found a set of flannel sheets at a secondhand store a few years back. They're great in the garden! By the time I need them, the garden is done with them.☺️
I worked all day until 11pm tonight to make hoop tunnels for 5 raise beds. I had to cut 25 PEX pieces and bought 100 ft of plastic and used clips that i got in the mail yesterday - just in time! No snow here in Holland, MI.
Very timely! This season is ridiculous... hot for weeks, then snow and freezing... lol. Same here, near Ottawa, Ontario. Spring is here. Let’s plant already!! 🥷🪴🙌
Just moved 20 5 gallon grow bags full of hundreds of plants, indoors for the night... They can spend the night inside with their 2,000+ seedlings on the growing rack - growing like crazy, waiting for the last frost to pass ;-)
I'm in northern Ohio.. feel both your pain. Im like 2 hrs from ya haha. Everything's inside still, covered my blackberry and raspberries last night with tarp and held down with rocks
We are really worried about this freeze tonight! Where were you when it was still light out? 😱.....🤣😂. We are worried about our potatoes and carrots....gave them a quick cover but.....😱 These are great tips! Thanks for sharing!
The carrots should be fine. Ours did well even at 28. The potatoes might come back even if they initially die. It's happened to us before and we were pleasantly surprised. Just means later harvest.
I'm up in Nova Scotia so I basically just assume we're only getting 2-3 months of summer. I guess, in a way, expecting it can save you trouble. I still even have my cold weather crops indoors under lights right now.
So much snow down here in Indy. I don’t plant until well after frost, but I’m so sad for the orchards again this year. Praying they are able to salvage more than last year.
I'm in Cleveland on the lake shore, my supposed last frost date was yesterday 🙄 I loaded everything I could into the shed. Everything else is a brassica, carrots and parsnips. My peas are under tomatoe cages and I covered them with plastic. 🤞🤞
I live in zone 8a...coastal NC. Our last frost date was March 28th! Now we are going to have 39 degree nights. I had just planted my tomatoes and peppers and I have a massive rose garden full of blooms and buds about to bloom...I really hope nothings gets damaged. I am going to try to cover everything to be safe. REEEEEEEEEEEE
We have a younger cherry tree with just a few blooms about 5’ tall... added a tomato cage and used a gutter heater cable wrapped around the cage. Topped with a tarp and plugged it in when temp reached freezing mark and off first thing in morning. Outside temps in low 20’s. Seems to be working great! Added a remote thermometer underneath the tarp so we can monitor temps. Sure looking forward to fresh cherries this summer!
We grow lettuce, spinach, chard and garlic under clear plastic tubs all winter. These were started spring, summer or fall. On nice days, we open tubs for awhile. Keep them closed at night. This is using a cold frame basically. That way in the early spring you can pick it. Also, we start summer plants in kitchen and put out in breezeway on warmer days for more light in daytime. Next, we harden them off outside. My dad used to plant seeds in an old, dirt filled well. He covered them with old windows. On cold nights, he put a very thick blanket over this. He marked the seeds off in the well with straight milk carton sides. Labelled them so he knew what was what. Daytime warmth if able to take off blanket, would help them germinate and grow . He gave plants to neighbors when they were about 6 inches tall. Wrapped them in newspaper and dipped them in water. He loved helping the neighbors. Gardening is a never ending learning experience and especially one in how to be adaptable.
I did something similar. Filled some gallon jugs with hot water, set one next to the plant I want to protect, mostly buried them in straw much and covered with a sheet. I'm hoping my tomatoes survive this way. Gonna have several hours below freezing tonight.
Thank you so much for sharing all these different ways to save our plants from frost. I'm working a 24 hr shift and didn't hear about the heavy Frost coming tonight. Oh well it's just a few petunias,
I am using whatever I can find to cover my plants. I put out mulch and a few buckets. I know it’s not the best to use but my plants are to big to bring inside. I am glad I have extras indoors. I am so tired of the cold but the hot days of summer are around the corner.
It is heartening to see people who are sharing my pain today. Had been watching the forecast hoping it’ll change but nope, it’s Michigan, right?! I didn’t want to get out of bed to look outside! @MIgardener you voiced my sentiments at the beginning of your video 😆 Covered my Japanese maples and Stewartia tree with frost blankets. Maybe I’ll put a bedsheet on them tonight. Learnt it the hard way last year. I have peonies that were budding up which will be ruined now, daffodils are all gone. 😰😰
I live in Indiana and this is definitely odd weather for mid April, but I know it’s too early to get to excited about warm weather sticking around. Mother’s Day for us is a good time to plant warm weather plants
Ran n covered all I could. Totally agree this is for the birds! Snow 3 to 4 inches expected tonight & 60 by weekend. We shall see...what the outcome is. Although I only have cold weather crops but not sure they hold up to lake effect heavy wet snow. Great end message. A garden is a garden & expect some bumps on the way!
It's good to know what stage your growth buds are at as to how much protection is needed. Like having tight barely swelling growth buds will survive frost but already leafed out growth buds need protection
We’re fed up too!!! In Ohio here and was soooo disappointed with the snow when we woke up this morning . We just want to get stuff in the ground soon and we’re still dealing with these cold temps and winter weather! Grrr..
PVC tube frame over my raised beds with 6 mil clear plastic will work for me. You can also place incandescent Christmas light strings under your coverings to gain more protection against a freeze. The millenial gardener did a RU-vid video on this.
Really liked the incandescent Christmas light idea. The worst option is a burn barrel as sudden hard freezes are brought in by strong winds that increase fire hazard; also open burning is incredibly polluting.
these "freak freezes" are starting to become more routine with each passing year it feels like! i dont even try fruit trees because more often than not one of these freezes waits to come along after everything has already blossomed out, like clockwork. Thankfully all i have in the ground so far are my peas, potatoes, and brassicas. So the only thing i really need to worry about are my haskap and blueberry bushes.
Thank you for reminding us to enjoy the garden . This time of year there is always a bit of stress and anxiety to prep the beds, weed, compost, plant and sow seeds. 💕💕💕 once it's all in and growing well that is when I relax and take it all in.
It was 81 in GA last weekend, and getting down to 12 this weekend. My spring garden is in ( beets, onions, radishes, garlic, arugula and lettuces.) I'm hoping I can save them all using poly low-tunnels and compost. If it doesn't work then that's 3 weeks down the drain.
I'm in central Ohio, so I don't even plant most annuals until mid-May, but it is frustrating to see my perennials taking a beating. My kiwi vines broke dormancy in March, then two nights with lows around 25 zapped the new growth. They were just making a come back, and now this. Hopefully the bed sheets work.
Central Ohio here too, I have heard snow is insulating...so I am hoping that maybe the snow coming before the cold will act as an insulation..... I went out right before the cold and covered the growth in my grapevines in clear bags...here’s hoping! :)
@@TravelingwithJenny I think the snow was a double-edged sword. It may have insulated some plants, but it really weighed down my blackberries and elderberries because it was thick and slushy. Everything I covered seems to be fine though. Tonight will likely be the real test - no snow cover and temps projected to be below 30.
It’s amazing what mulch can do covering a plant. I overwintered a pineapple plant and a small orange plant here in Alabama by covering the plants in mulch. And now they are growing just fine here this summer. I’ll mulch again when winter hits
Yay for this video as we now have snow coming and below zero tomorrow night and we just planted everything.. the weather was 30 f..amd we have strawberries blooming now too ha time to use your tips
Well he better be careful or his wonderful gardener wife may not wish to share her beautiful garden with him after she successfully saves it! Hehe! :-)
Northern Arkansas here, predicting 25 degrees tonight, but we are always 5 Degrees colder than the forecast. Covered everything with at least 3 layers: buckets, fleece, some straw & plastic. Even have heaters under covers for the brassicas, I don’t trust several hours at 20 degrees.
Last year taught me the lesson of planting out warm weather crops before mothers day, no matter how nice it is. It only took me having to carry in 22 five gallon buckets with soil and plants inside overnight. So I started warm weather plants a month later, and they are in my basement seed starting room for 2 more weeks. So now I have onions, garlic, spinach, and lettuce outside. The only borderline plants outside are strawberries. Those are covered in dry leaves with plastic over them.
Wonderful! A guy from Michigan who understands our pain! Thanks for the tips buddy! I'm an old gal who loves flowers, mostly in pots. Trying my hand with veggies this spring also mostly potted. I scrimp all year to have lots O bucks for my plants, one of my passions! Hoping the poor FRA GEE LEES will recover from their shock. Gonna start following you for more tips, old dogs can learn new tricks, Ha!
I made a green house over my 4x4 bed that had tomatoes, peppers and beans in it. Covered it with a canvas drop cloth. We’ll see if it makes it through this snap. I am not going to peek until it warms up. Maybe a menorah is called for...a little heat plus a little faith. Should be in the 30’s tonight. Thanks for the pep talk Luke.
Yep two years ago I dug up EVERYTHING in November as the freezes kept coming and a hard freezing rain was hitting and my sheets and buckets weren't cutting it any more. I got like thirty to fifty containers at dollar tree and was up all night in freezing rain hauling my entire garden indoors! If I was younger and stronger this would've worked well for everything but you must now treat them all like container plants which is a bit different and I ran out of windows, but it could work, I also had no indoor lighting and couldn't afford it, I had to borrow money to buy the dollar tree containers. So I was able to baby a couple things, I was growing mostly to learn my first year so.. It was OK after the tears were gone... But I had two broccoli plants that made a tiny misshapen broccoli but, but I cut it off as it withered, but I kept those two plants all winter, into next year and still now they're looking dead for neglect but I had no idea broccoli could live two years, now mine was so neglected it withered a few times, I prayed and watered them and their dry withered leaves would slowly regenerate after a few days. The one plant weaved like a vine on my window, the other did similar. I wanted to get videos of them but was living in such torturous pain last year especially, I just couldn't, sry. I might try getting them on my next video even if dead, you'll see how long they got and how resilient they are!! I was amazed! I'm wondering now what broccoli would do in the wild if left unharvested. I'm experimenting with plants that way, like potatoes and garlic... What if you don't harvest them!? Well my garlic came back and is very strong looking!! I also showed in my last video, the garlic that bolted, going to seed, the capers I think everyone calls them, well I cut my garlic capers and saved them. They are like seeds, so you grow them and the video I watched has you digging them up every season to replant, but garlic is strong, why not leave them in the ground!? So that's my next experiment, I'll make a video showing you what I mean 😊 God bless and speak life over your plants 🙏🌱🥀🌻💐🍯💕🤗🏵️🌱💪😃👍💯🌻
Incredible. Thank you!! I'm in southern Calif where freezes are few and far between. Yet, last week late night Temps got down to 27 degrees and killed half my outdoor plants. Tomrw night another freek event...26 degrees. So I will now cover the fragile plants with sheets. And on the tropical plumeria tree, I'll stash some flashlights near the main stem and roots. Will cross my fingers. Thx so much for the great tips for last minute.
@@SageandStoneHomestead ohio. My last freeze and light snow killed my beats and peas so I was told to cover them. I could start more but we could get snow here into may
I got about 1 inch of snow during the night in Louisville, KY. Most of it melted by 6:30 a.m. I used large sheets of 6 mil. greenhouse plastic held up with wood stakes and pinned down with landscape fabric staples. This is the latest in Spring that I've seen snow here in my 51 years. Last latest date was April 4th, one year during the '90s.
I’m reading your comment 2 years after you shared it, and the weather continues to be even more erratic. Where I live in Mobile, AL, we are experiencing freezing temps and the nights will soon get even colder. This may be the norm in many states during this time of year, but it’s shockingly cold here. I came to this video for guidance on preventing damage to my orange tree.
