Hi,

Now that the weather is beginning to turn, what steps should I be taking to protect my plants from the early morning frosts? My garden is still reaping the rewards of the good weather at the moment, and I would like to keep it like that. Can you help?

Suzanne

Our Gardening Expert replies:

Hi Suzanne,

Although some plants used for bedding displays will stop producing new flowers as the days become shorter, many will continue their floral display well into the autumn and thrive until they're killed by the cold. If you have a particularly good display at the moment it is certainly worthwhile considering protecting them from the odd overnight frost and it is quite possible for many displays to continue to the end of October, providing they have a little care.

Many plants will survive light frosts with no visible effect. You can easily provide additional protection by covering them on nights when frost is expected. Horticultural fleece is most often used for this purpose and can simply be draped over the entire flower bed and removed the next morning.

Frost is usually associated with lack of wind, but if clear still periods are expected later in the night and wind is possible early on, you may wish to anchor the fleece down with a few stones or sticks pushed through the material and into the ground.

Better protection would be obtained if you could suspend the fleece above the display, for example by inserting canes around the flower beds and draping the fleece over the top. Effectively this traps a layer of air between the fleece and the soil which can retain some heat. If you don't have any horticultural fleece, a stop-gap would be to drape sheets of newspaper over plants in the same way.

These comments are intended for tender plants used in typical bedding displays such as petunias, impatiens and begonias. Other hardy perennials which stay in the garden all year don't need such treatment to prolong their life, though protection may have an effect in prolonging some flowering displays.

All the best,

Sibe.

Keep your garden looking great all year round with our seasonal advice in Autumn Gardening Tips, Winter Garden and Winter Gardening Tips.

The top right-hand picture is of a Petunia F1 'Petunia grandiflora Mirage Red', available from Crocus.