We have seen large amounts of snow throughout the UK this February. The snow can make your garden beautiful often offering a spectacular white coating on trees, shrubs and out buildings. However snow or frost can cause a lot of problems for gardeners. Plant growth can be damaged and tender plants can often die.

In this article:

1. The cold - effects on your Garden
2. How to minimise the damage of the cold.
3. How to protect your plants
4. What to do with damaged plants

1. The cold - Effects on your Garden

Cold weather can be a gardeners nightmare. Particularly frost and snow whinch can cause the water in plant cells to freeze, damaging the cell wall.

Plants which are damaged by frost are very easy to see. Their growth becomes blackened, distorted and limp. With evergreen plants you may see leaves turning browns and tender plants can often take a translucent appearance. Frost problems can become more of a problem where plants face the morning sun. When plants defrost quickly it can rupture their cell walls.

Even the more hardy plants such as evergreens can be damaged by lengthy of severe cold when soil becomes frozen. Roots are unable to take up water and plants die from lack of moisture.

Gardeners also have problems with frosty weather during April and May which can kill blossom and damage fruit.

2. Minimising damage

We often leave it to late but prevention is far better than cure. Here are a few tips on how to minimise the damage caused by the cold to your plants.

• Try an choose plants that are not golden or vegitated varieties. These varieties are often a lot more tender
• Try and choose plants that are suited to the area which you live.
• Keep away from high nitrogen fertilisers as they can cause plants to have some sappy leaf growth that can be particular susceptible to damage, especialy during the colder months of the year.
• If you decide to choose tender plants then try to keep them in a shelteres spot. Try under large trees or shrubs or against walls. Provide heat and protection during the winter months. This will help keep the central crown intact and help protect against frost damage.
• Flowerings Plants with tender flowers buds/ shoots should not be planted on east facing sites.
• Do not prune plants hard in Autumn. Try and leave the old growth of tender plants over the cooler months. This will help protect the crown of plants from frost.
• If your garden has various levels then try and plant tender specimens on the higher parts of the garden. Frost and snow tends to descent to the lowest parts of a garden.
• Try to avoid obvios frost pockets.

3. How to protect your plants

We are starting to see an increase in the amount of tender plants for sale in the garden centres and nurseries in the UK. During cooler months you will need to try and give some protection.

How you protect your plants from the effects of cold depends on the type of plants and the situation they are growing in.

• Climbing plants against walls or tender plants growing in the open ground can be protected with simple, fleece-covered frames. Another option is to sandwich a layer of bracken leaves or straw between two large sections of chicken wire and use this to cover plants during frosty evenings.
• Tender bulbs, corms and tender, herbaceous plants can be covered with a thick mulch of manure, straw or old leaves to prevent the soil from freezing.
• During the spring months protect new shoots with a loose layer of straw or a bell-cloche.
• Evergreens can be helped with a good layer of mulch around their base. This will help to keep the soil frost-free. Moisture will be taken up during cold weather preventing the evergreens from becoming dehydrated.
• By planting tender varieties of plants in pots you have the option to bring plants inside during bad spells in the weather.
• Take cuttings of plants that are not suitble for pots and place in a warm greenhouse, ready for planting in the new spring.
• Wrap layers of fleece (or hessian stuffed with straw) around trees and ferns to protect their crown.
• Cordylines and palms should also be treated this way. Tie their leaves into bunches, to protect their crowns.
• For low-growing plant specimens try covering them with a sheet of glass or a cloche to protect them from the wet. It's also a good idea to use a layer of gravel or grit, to ensure swift drainage.
• When choosing pots for the outdoors try and select containers that are frost-proof to prevent them cracking. Your local nursery will be able to point you in the right direction.
• Move your pots and containers into a shelter of a greenhouse or shed. Those that can't be moved should be placed above the ground on 'pot feet'. This will help prevent waterlogging. Using a good free-draining compost with added perlite will also help with this.
• Insulate your pots with bubble wrap or hessian to prevent them freezing and cracking and ensure plant rootballs stay healthy.
  

4. What to do with damaged plants

Don't panic! If your plants do get damaged by the cold weather it doesn't mean that they are dead and gone. Some plants given time can recover.
Here are a few tips on getting your plants back to life.

• Try and keep them away ffrom the morning sun. If your plant defrosts too quickly it can get damaged. If you are unable to move the plants then it would be advised to place a layer of black plastic to block out the sun.
• Prune back any frosted growth in the spring time to a healthy section. This will prevent further die back and encourage new growth.
• Use a balanced fertiliser (with a balanced amount of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium) to help new healthy growth.
• Dig up small, tender plants and take them into the greenhouse. Many will quickly produce new growth and recover.
  

5. The Garden - Dealing with snow

Snow may seem bad but one small benefit is that snow acts as an insulator, protecting plants from the cold and frost. Although, a heavy layer of snow can also cause leaves and branches to break, so it's important to know how to deal with it when it arrives:

• Brush off snow from the branches of large trees, shrubs and hedges. By doing this you will help prevent them from becoming disfigured by the weight.
  
• Clear snow from the roofs of greenhouses or cold frames so that light can get through and so that the weight will not damage the structure.
  
• Tie up the branches of conifers to give them support and stop them being pulled out of shape. Remember that branches that move away from the main plant won't spring back into place when the snow melts.
• Don't walk on the grass. Tell the kids to play in the snaow across the street. Walking on snow-covered grass can cause damage to the turf beneath and leave unsightly marks on the lawn. It can also encourage the growth of fungal diseases which thrive in the cool damp conditions.

Source: Keith Fletcher, Home and Gardening