San Antonio is not known for drastically cold weather, but it does occasionally freeze during the winter season. A freeze occurs, of course, when the temperature drops below the freezing point of water (32° F or 0° C). Here’s how to care for your plants and garden during the winter season.
Different plants react differently to freezing temperatures. Most of our typical foundation and landscape trees and plants survive fine during our winters without much intervention on our part. The evergreens stay evergreen, the deciduous trees and shrubs go dormant but leaf out again in the spring, and the large pallet of perennials used in our area are root hardy and will grow out this spring, if they do freeze down.
The challenge comes with the many tropical plants that we love here in South Texas. They thrive during our long hot summers, but do not react favorably to freezing temperatures. Using a fabric frost blanket (there are several good ones on the market, i.e. N-Sulate or Planket) to cover during brief spells below freezing works really well. For the severe drops in temperatures over prolonged periods that are rare but can happen, they need to be brought inside.
At Milbergers, we’ll be happy to advise you about the steps that you can and should take to protect your plants and landscape during our change of seasons.