With winter making a late-season appearance, experts say you need to keep your gardens safe!
Chase Yoder with Greenwood Hardware tells us you could lose the entire crop if you aren’t careful this week with the back-and-forth weather.
“It can actually be really rough on the plants,” Yoder said.
The days have gone from mostly warm and even sunny, to some Snohomish County neighbors waking up with fresh snow Wednesday morning.
“The warm weather can trick them into thinking spring has sprung it’s time to start growing,” Yoder said. “I would expect the cold weather to throw a hiccup in your spring summer even late fall gardening plans.”
Yoder said if you aren’t protecting your plants this week, you could lose them.
“There is a good chance you’ll have less growth due to bulbs dying, bulbs going back into hibernation. The temperature fluctuations can be really rough on them,” Yoder said.
If your garden doesn’t have much growth yet this season, some insulation will work.
“You’ve got a number of great options of mulching varieties,” Yoder said. “You can go with a pine bark mix, or even straw.”
If you have blooms, they need full protection.
“There’s options for a frost blanket, all you have to do is lay it down over top of your plants and it will act as a mini greenhouse effect to keep foliage happy.”
He says any time there is a threat for frost or snow this late in the season, it’s time to take protective measures.