Row Cover

Effectively protect your plants from harsh cold

Winter protection can be an overwhelming task unless you are armed with the right information. Below are tips for protecting your valuable landscape from cold weather.

• Never let plants or a lawn go into a freeze in dry soil. Water thoroughly.


• Use frost cloth for protection if possible. Sheets and blankets can damage plants in wet weather because of the weight. Avoid using plastic sheeting. Uncover plants as soon as the temperature gets to 40 degrees.


• Know what zone your plants are rated for. At this time Houston is in zone 9a. Plants rated for zone 10 or 11 have a possibility of freezing here. Plants rated for zone 7 have very little chance of winter damage.


• Plants in containers need more protection than the same kind of plants in the ground.


• Plants on the North and East side of the house will usually need more protection than on the South and the West.


• Wrapping the trunk of a valuable tropical tree or palm with frost cloth and putting Christmas lights on it has been known to save trees from freezing. Be sure to turn the lights on!


• Pipe insulation can be used on the trunks of valuable tropicals


• Mulching insulates the root system. That is important in extreme cold.


• A plant that is lush and has a lot of new growth will suffer more damage than one that has been allowed to "harden off" in the Fall. Do not fertilize shrubs or tropicals after September.

• 40-45 degrees - Nothing should be severely damaged in this range unless the winds are high and the plants are dry!


• 35-39 degrees - Frost can occur so cover warm weather annuals and tender tropicals. Move potted tropicals indoors.


• 32-35 degrees - Protect azalea flowers. Hardy shrubs are in no danger. Plants rated for zone 10 and higher are in danger of being damaged.


• 28-31 degrees - These sustained temperatures can kill warm weather annuals and tender tropicals. Flowers of some cool weather annuals can be damaged but the plants should survive with little damage. Zone 11 plants can die.


• 23-27 degrees - Some cool weather annuals can be damaged. Warm weather annuals will die. Zone 9 plants can be damaged if cold is sustained and zone 10 and higher plants can die.


• 15-22 degrees - Cool weather annuals will be damaged. Pansies will survive. Bottlebrush, oleander, azaleas, gardenias will be damaged. Cover zone 7-9 plants.


• Below 15 degrees - Water, cover or move everything inside that you can.