Baby It's Cold Outside!
Well, at least for a southern gal living on the upper Texas Gulf Coast. For most of us who deliberately moved to Houston, we came for the almost year-round sunshine, warmth and humidity. So, when temperatures drop into the low 40's, upper 30's, you'd think we were living through a 'Nor-Easter'.
There's unseasoned firewood to be had almost on every street corner, and most of us give up our flip-flops and shorts for tennis shoes, and at least a hoodie. In our own southern way, we bundle up to protect ourselves from the damp and bone chilling coastal winter winds.
Bundling up landscapes and gardens for a winter chill and getting a head start on Spring are both important to Texas Winter Gardeners. The almost cliché phrase that we all hear the weather forecasters say during a cold snap is, "protect your pets, pipes and plants". So, wrap and insulate exposed, outdoor pipes which include protecting irrigation systems.
To combat an irrigation system freeze there are some basic things that need to be done. First turn off water to the irrigation system at the back flow device. There will be a lever that turns off water to the back flow and not the water to your entire house. Second, turn on one zone at a time to drain the excess water from the lines. Then turn the system off at the controller. If there are screw bleeds on your back flow device, unscrew them to bleed air out of the system that can expand upon freezing. Remember to turn the screw bleeds back on. If not turned back on, when you start your irrigation system in the spring you will have water everywhere.
Bring the pets indoors, or give them a warm dry shelter outside protected from the wind, and blanket or cover tender plants. And please, don't forget to feed the birds!
This is where I sort of laugh due to the assortment of 'dirty laundry' in the form of miss-matched sheets and towels we all hang out to protect our plants. Although we all lost a garden plant, or a perhaps a palm tree or two in the winter of 2010, protecting plants is a way to preserve your investment of time and money, and that is nothing to laugh at. Do cover tender tropical and sensitive plants and winter vegetables with floating row covers or Plankets during extreme cold and hard freezes.
What can kill most landscape plants during a Texas size freeze isn’t the cold temperatures in and of themselves, but the desiccating or freeze-drying affect of the whipping, gusting winds. To avoid desiccation, deeply spot water potted plants, dry beds and plant/tree areas in advance of the approaching freezing winds. The water acts as an insulator for the root systems, leaves and branches alike.
After the cold snap, if the plant appears to have died, be patient. Wait until the last freeze of the winter season, usually the latter part of March, at the latest the first two weeks of spring to cut back. Then and only then, trim the dead branches, limbs or fronds, and feed with a good organic fertilizer. Plants that most homeowners thought were long gone, and pulled up too early,bounced back with new growth and flowers for those that were willing to wait for the warm, life giving rays of sunshine.
Kathy Vosburg
aka Design-n-Dirt Girl
www.landescapedesigns.com
www.naturallygreengardens.com
Labels: cold snap, Houston, protect plants, winter freeze, winterizing gardens, winterizing irrigation system
A.A. Design, B.S. Communications
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