Plant Pathology Infobytes

October 28, 1998
Practices to Prevent Cold Weather Injury to Landscape Plants

This is a good time of the year to prepare landscape plants for upcoming periods of extended cold weather by carrying out the following practices.

  • Plants in many landscape beds are suffering from drought stress and consequently will be more susceptible to the effects of cold weather, which could be just around the corner. In areas of the state where several weeks have passed without rainfall, soak the soil around the roots to relieve drought stress. This practice should be continued through the winter months as well. Even though winter is the "off-season," plants still need ample supplies of moisture to keep from drying out, so water when two or more weeks have passed without rainfall. Also, roots in moist soils are insulated against extreme cold.
  • Mulching will help protect your plants from cold injury, provided its done properly. Apply mulch to plants after the first hard freeze. Pine straw is a great (and readily available material in most areas) mulch material. Add a 3- to 4-inch layer of this material around plants. If you're using hardwood, or a similar mulch, 2- to 3-inches should be sufficient, since shredded hardwood or pine bark mulch won't "settle" like pine straw. Mulching helps by helping the soil retain moisture and also by protecting roots against extreme cold. And, when properly applied, the mulch will help keep the soil from freezing, insuring a steady supply of moisture to roots.
  • Remember, the landscape experts tell us that mulching should be done following a hard freeze, not before. If you mulch too early in fall, this may prevent plants from becoming fully dormant. And plants which aren't dormant are much more susceptible to cold injury.
  • Resist the temptation to add too thick a layer of mulch around plants. Over-mulching of landscape plants leads to suffocation of the original root system and increased susceptibility to damage from cold weather.

Give us a call at the County Extension Office if you should have questions about improving the quality of your home landscape.


Written by the late Dr. Frank Killebrew

A black line that separates the body text from footer information