by Elizabeth Smith
Now is the time to prepare for colder weather in your garden. Many trees (and plants too) will benefit from protection but rather than creating an exhaustive list of all frost sensitive trees, ask yourself 3 questions: “Is this a native or non-native tree?” “Do I really, really like it?” “Is it forecasted to be unusually cold?”
Native trees don’t need frost protection because they’re already adapted to our climate but the exception would be a tree that you have a special connection to. When the news warns of anything over a light frost, you’ll want to protect any prized greenery, native or not. Of course, there’s also the philosophy that wintertime is the process of natural selection, ensuring only the hardiest survive, and this works great for people who don’t have time to baby their trees. And anything that grows great in cold weather like an apple tree actually benefits from the cold so it won’t need special attention.
Citrus, however, is not cold-loving so if you want to keep yours, it’s important to take the time to protect it. Diane and Manny Herrera have come up with an innovative technique that Manny attributes to saving their dying orange trees. They moved into their Rita Ranch home in November of 2014 and were concerned about their sickly looking citrus trees surviving the winter. So they did their research and came up with the idea to wrap the tree trunks with reflective window insulation (like a car window shade screen). In addition to wrapping the tree trunks, on cold nights they also cover the leaf canopy with bedsheets (never plastic) and place a 60-watt incandescent bulb in the middle of the tree. All of their 7 citrus trees have made a beautiful recovery. Another tip is to water your tree before it hits freezing because moist soil keeps the air warmer than dry soil. Also, a hydrated tree can withstand stress from cold much better than a wilted, dehydrated tree. These methods are all you need to protect any tree from the hardest frost. Remember, you’re not trying to reach 75 degrees, you’re only trying to keep things above freezing.
Elizabeth Smith is the Director of The Community Gardeners and teaches people how to successfully grow all year long. For questions, go to www.facebook.com/RitaGardens, RitaGardens.org, TheCommunityGardeners@gmail.com or 520-591-2255.
