Frost Protection

Here are some of our favourite tactics to help protect vulnerable plants from frost damage:

• Move potted plants to a more protected area like a deck or porch, or up against a wall.
• Protect small seedlings on frosty nights by creating cloches out of plastic soft drink bottles, with the base cut out. Push the bottles into the soil to cover each seedling with a tiny little greenhouse. Leave the lids off, so the seedlings don't overheat if the sun falls on them.
• Cover frost-sensitive plants with frost or shade cloth. You can construct a temporary cloth cloche with a frame to hold the cloth up, to make a protective 'tent' over your plants. Make sure that the cloth reaches down to the ground around all the edges. Bricks or pavers are a handy way to weigh down the edges of the cloth on the ground. Make sure the cloth isn't directly touching your plants, there needs to be air space between them.

• A popular method to construct a cloche frame is to hammer two 40cm lengths of steel rebar into the ground to make short 'pegs', then push each end of a length of 15mm polythene pipe down onto each steel peg, to form a 'hoop'. Make a row of hoops long enough to cover a row of vegies, then drape the frost cloth over them. Bunch the cloth into a knot at each end and pin them down to the ground. Pro Tip: Pull out the steel pegs when you've finished with the cloche, or they're bound to trip somebody...you really don't want one going in someone's eye!
• A very simple alternative is to hammer in a Y post (aka waratah standard) at each end of your vegie row, stretch and secure a taut length of wire between them and just drape the frost cloth over the central wire to make a simple tent. Make sure the ends are closed in (just knot them together loosely).

• To protect young citrus or avocado trees, hammer in four Y posts around the tree, one on each corner. Stretch wire around the top corners of the posts. Drape frost cloth over the frame, covering the entire top and reaching right down to the ground.
• Late frosts can be very destructive to crop yields of spring flowering fruit trees, which benefit from having frost cloth draped over the entire tree for the night. Remove the cover early the next morning, after the sun comes up.
• Keep garden soil moist during frost season, as wet soil absorbs and retains heat better than dry soil. In fact, very dry soil can make frost damage worse, because its temperature drops faster.
• Don’t be tempted to prune off any frost-damaged foliage until the risk of frost has passed, as it can encourage vulnerable shoots of new growth. Also, the damaged foliage can help protect healthy growth underneath.