Have you woken to a frost too?
After a sustained period of dry relatively warm weather the weekend weather forecast came as a bit of a reminder that we are still only in early spring and we could wake up to any weather. Indeed this morning there was surface frost in Surrey and reports of 8cm of snow in Aviemore and wintry showers in other parts of the country.
If you have been working hard in the greenhouse and garden sowing seeds, potting on or planting out then you need to head the warnings that temperatures are due to drop this week for all of us. With snow forecast for some areas and possible night frosts for others how should you protect your plants?
In the greenhouse, make sure that you remember to close the vents, doors and windows at night if you open them during the day. Temperature variations inside will be extreme at the moment and you want to try and keep in as much of the heat from the day as possible. Covering the plants with a layer of garden fleece will also help to protect the tender young plants.
Hold off a little longer before planting out any purchases which came with the warning 'protect from frost'. If you stocked up from the garden centre at Easter and simply could not help yourself from planting them out then cloches/fleece also need to be put out at night. If you have not yet planted up your veg area then a layer of black plastic can also help to warm up the soil ready for when the risk of frost has passed.
Fruit trees are particularly susceptible to a late frost and whole crops can be lost as a result. The blossom this year has been particularly abundant and with luck we could be in for a bumper harvest. You may need to head out with horticulture fleece, some closest pegs, a step ladder and an extra pair of hands in order to help protect the flowers and early fruits.
Heavy snow is unlikely but if you do get a covering then pop put when you can and shake any soft growth free so that stems do not get broken with the weight.
A good layer of mulch put down typically in February or March (n ground which is not frozen) will help to protect the bases of plants.
Growing tender plants in pots enables you to move them to a greenhouse, inside or to an shelter area of the garden.
Light frosts only tend to damage the most tender plants, but early morning sun can cause 'burn' after an air frost damage, any leaves and stems which turn brown have died. Plants which have been frosted can sometimes be saved so all is not necessarily lost. Don't do much initially other than watering as normal and protecting the plant from any further frost damage. After all risk of frost has passed and new growth starts you should cut back the damaged growth to a new bud, give the plant a light feed to encourage new growth. Waiting until the plant has started to grow again gives it a chance to recover and also enables you to see where to make your cut. If the plant has died then look on it as an opportunity to replace it with something more hardy.... after the risk of frost has passed for this year. For most of us this will be early May, but do be prepared to take action as Mother Nature likes to keep us on our toes!