How to Prepare Your Yard for the First Frost
Tomorrow marks the first frost of the season here in the Pacific Northwest, and while I’m never ready to say goodbye to summer, I’m looking forward to a long break from gardening. I’ve been preparing for this event for the past week; Here’s everything I recommend you do before the first frost hits your yard.
Find out when it’s going to get cold
I look to three sources for information about the first frost. First, it’s always a good idea to have an idea of the “first frost date” in your area. This is an average and can be found by searching online or going to a farmer’s almanac .
As useful as the almanac is, it is a guess based on previous frost dates, so the real solution is to sign up for weather alerts. Almost any weather app on your phone will give you frost warnings as part of its regular notifications.
The problem is that you’ll likely only receive notification of a freeze a day or two before it happens, and you don’t have much time to prepare. This is why I belong to local gardening groups because the upcoming frost is inevitably the talk of the town. You can find local gardening groups on Facebook, Reddit, and even NextDoor.
Prepare your water systems
The thing about frost is that everything tends to freeze, namely water. Water in your hoses, water in your faucets, water in your irrigation and sprinkler system. The cost of repairs and replacements will exceed any other problems caused by frost, so addressing the water problem should be the number one priority. First, water your yard well (more on this in a moment). Next, you should bleed your irrigation and sprinkler system . This process uses a compressor to blow out any water remaining in the system to prevent your pipes from cracking when the water in them expands when it freezes. Next, disconnect the hoses and make sure they are well drained, which means unwinding them. Finally, cover outdoor faucets/spouts with insulated caps .
Protect your gardening tools
Most of the equipment in your garden, from wooden trellises to metal arches, is frost-resistant. Anything glass should fit inside – for example, if you have garden balls or glass bird feeders, they shouldn’t withstand the cold outside. All your electric and gas tools should be moved inside for the winter rather than exposed to the cold. Any ollas (heated clay watering cans that people place in their gardens) should be removed and stored. Any pots that are not weatherproof should also be stored in a garage or greenhouse for the winter.
Think about the wild
If you have a bee house outside, it’s probably time to move it, or at least the cocoons, inside for the winter. Cocoons will do well in your refrigerator or cool garage, but the frost is too difficult for them. Also think about bird feeders: you can use incandescent Christmas lights or hand warmers to keep the hummingbird food from freezing. Wrap the feeder in lamps that release some heat, or attach a hand warmer to the bottom of the feeder and change it every few hours. Many people provide local cats with places to cozy up by creating outdoor shelters for them.
As much as I want to protect wildlife, I also recognize that the cold will bring rodents into places I don’t want them to. I spend time making sure holes are plugged with steel wool and rat traps are set with bait.
Prepare your plants
Let’s get down to business: protecting your plants . Frosts vary in severity: “Frost” simply means temperatures drop below 32F for a short period and ice is expected to form on exterior surfaces. A freeze is a prolonged period of freezing, intensified by cold air, in which ice penetrates entire structures. Many plants can withstand frost, but not frost. However, if you have plants that you move inside for the winter, the first frost warning is when to move them. If you have tender vegetables like tomatoes and peppers outside, it’s time to take the last of your harvest and move them inside. Most won’t survive frost, so I hope you like green tomatoes .
In case of frost it is often recommended to protect fruit trees with sheets and insulation, but in frost this is not the case. This will most likely destroy your annual flowers, but it has to happen. Plants that cannot survive frost are unlikely to survive the winter and should not be survived. As the weather continues to change, increasing the resilience of your plants should be the goal.
However, preparing plants for winter should always include mulching them well. If you haven’t gotten to this point yet, focus on the most susceptible plants, such as dahlias and perennial mums, artichokes and young trees.
Finally, you should be sure to water before frost sets in. I know it seems counterintuitive, but doing this the night before seals off the plant’s roots.