The 7 Best Plant Covers for Winter Frost

Materials such as burlap, plastic, polypropylene, and fleece have worked effectively as plant covers. Polyethylene is a wise alternative material. Natural fabrics like cotton and linen are also excellent alternatives, especially if you don’t have any burlap or plastic on hand.

If your plants aren’t windy hardy – then you need to cover them. Period!! If you don’t, the extreme cold temperatures (depending on where you live) will penetrate the roots of your plants and freeze them to death. The best-case scenario here is that your plants suffer considerable damage. If you’re lucky, they’re still salvageable for next spring.

It may be your first inclination to grab a plastic trash bag and put it over your plant before winter begins. However, some plastic and vinyl materials are typically too thin to provide sufficient insolation for plants. In this case, plastic bags aren’t breathable, and moisture can easily get trapped inside. That moisture will end up freezing the plants inside should temperatures drop low enough.

Yes! Cardboard boxes aren’t perfect – but they’re better than nothing. Cardboard boxes do not come into direct contact with the plant. When using a cardboard box, make sure it has 1 inch of clearance space between it and the plant on every side. Preferably place the cardboard box over the plant in the late afternoon hours while the sun is still present so that the inside of the box can get slightly warm before nighttime.

If you expect strong winds at night, pin the cardboard box down with heavy objects like bricks along its sides.

Protecting plants from a late spring freeze is highly dependent on where in the world you live because weather patterns are different for everybody. For example, if you happen to live anywhere in the area of the Appalachian Mountains (where I live), you will get unique variable weather patterns. Sometimes a late spring frost occurs around Mother’s Day in May.

Regardless – the best tips for protecting your plants from this frost snap are easy! Try watering them thoroughly beforehand, covering them with lightweight fleece blankets and portions of mulch or straw, or covering them with a bucket (which I will explain in more depth later). Cold weather at any time will slow the growth of plants, but with proper protection, they can endure the frost.

Potted perennials work best in the spring and summer seasons with their beautiful colors! But, if you want to overwinter them, you will be facing some challenges. The best way to overwinter a perennial plant is to choose one that you know will be hardy in a pot or container. 

Here’s a rule of thumb to follow for a plant to be winter hardy in a pot. Aim for it to be at least two zones hardier than the climate zone of your area. The soil in the garden pot will freeze harder and thaw out quicker than soil in the ground, and any repetitive freeze and thaw cycles will be hard for plants.

In summary, you can leave perennials in pots over winter, but be prepared to monitor them throughout the season to make sure they don’t suddenly get hit by the cold.

It depends upon the plant – but try to avoid frost if in doubt. Frost usually starts at roughly 32° Fahrenheit. A general rule of thumb to follow is that when temperatures start dipping into the 40s and 30s, you should start taking precautionary measures to cover your plants. Doing this well before it hits 32° is the best strategy.

Some of the following plants need to cover in the winter. Regardless of whether you want a beautiful flower garden or to start an orchard patch. Olive trees (Olea europaea) can have their foliage disfigured by cold winds and severe frosts. Pelargoniums, beautiful pink flowers, should be kept inside a frost-free greenhouse for the winter. If you have a large tree fern, you should wrap it up during winter.

It depends on when you water your plants and how much water you give them. A word of caution here; too much water can damage the roots of a plant and freeze its leaves. If a plant receives the right amount of water before a freeze, the pros outweigh the cons. If you decide to water your plants before the freeze arrives, do it as early in the day as possible, at the moment when the temperature reaches 40° Fahrenheit.

Water can act as an insulator for plant cells, protecting the plant-cell wall from freezing nighttime. I read an excellent guide from the University of Florida IFAS Extension that explains in further detail. From what I gather – water improves the soil’s ability to retain heat from the sun, therefore, insulating a plant’s roots.

Find the guide here: https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/lawn-and-garden/winter-plant-protection