Protect Your Garden In Cold Weather is a follow-up to our recent article entitled, How to protect your home in cold weather. Protecting your garden is equally important because it’s a vital part of your immediate surroundings. Like your home, if your garden is destroyed by cold weather, it could take years and a lot of cash to bring it back to where it should be. Gardens can be harder to protect in cold weather because after all, they’re outside and at the mercy of winter frosts, ice, snow and whatever else nature throws at it. This article will give you some easy tips to protect your garden in cold weather.

Protect your garden in cold weather

my actual garden in winter

Protect your garden from salt and ice in cold weather

Plan carefully if you’re using salt to clear ice from your driveway in winter. Remember that when the ice melts, the salty water will make its way to your plants and can seriously damage them. Not all species of plants will come back from a good soak in salty water. And even those which do, may not flower for a couple of years before they’re back to normal. If you must keep plants near the driveway, use potted ones you can remove when you need to. I found plant movers really helpful in moving our bigger plants around.

Protect your garden taps from freezing in cold weather

Wrap your garden pipes and taps with lagging or old towels. If your tap does freeze and you’d like to use it, cover it with hot water bottles and towels and leave for a while. Whatever you do, don’t tap it with a hammer or any other tools. Yes, it has been done! If the above seems to complicated, you can always purchase a cheap, outdoor insulated tap (or faucet) cover like the one in the picture below.

Protect your garden in cold weather by trimming trees

Just before the winter sets in, trim the trees near your greenhouse which are likely to be covered in snow. If the trees become snow-packed, this can damage the glass roof of your greenhouse or conservatory. Cutting trees are less work and a lot less expensive than replacing broken glass roofs.

Protect your garden furniture in cold weather

Put away all garden furniture, tools, kids toys, or loose bits of your barbecue grills. Strong winds can use any loose item in your garden as a weapon which can damage windows, conservatories and greenhouses.

-As for sheds and garage doors

There’s still time to make sure your shed roof is secure and that you have a proper lock on the door. Again, strong winds can rip up your roof and the rain can cause damage to things you keep in your shed while you sleep. You may want to have your garage door checked for damage so that it can withstand strong winds and heavy snow.

Extra: protect your garden in cold weather - your car

The best way to protect your car and yourself:

Always keep a spare tin of de-icer in your car. If it’s cold enough your car could ice over while you’re parked outside the shopping centre etc. You don’t want to spend ages in the cold scraping the car, especially if you’re not prepared for it.

If you don’t have de-icer, don’t use hot water to defrost your windscreen in cold weather. This can cause cracks. A bit of tepid water will work better.

Keep a small shovel in your boot (car trunk) just in case you’re out and about and need it.

It’s not too late to top up on anti-freeze in your radiator. Remember this can become a serious issue with engine damage if you haven’t got enough.

It goes without saying, in cold weather, always have a bag of warm jumpers and/or a blanket in the boot of your car. You may also want to include an emergency kit safe somewhere in your shed or car. Your emergency kit for cold weather could include the items on this list which can be found in this article about protecting your home in cold weather.

Conclusion: Protect your garden in cold weather

In cold weather we always have to plan for emergencies. Once you’ve packed your emergency kit, think of an emergency plan that all the family are aware of. Where will you go, what will you need, who will you call etc. Always have coins in your emergency kit for phone calls. Mobile phones pick the worst times to need charging. Also have batteries and a battery operated radio with you. Protecting your garden is as important as protecting your house, because it’s a part of your extended home. What are other ways you use to protect your garden, yourself, your family, and your home in cold weather?