The picturesque view of gorgeous snow and frost slowly falling and settling into the crevices of outdoor spaces can seem ethereal. While the experience itself is beautiful, the presence of even light frost can deeply damage the tender plants that exist in your garden. It can also damage the heating systems in your home.

If you’re new to garden and home maintenance, learning how to look after and safeguard your home and garden from frost can be an essential skill to know, especially as the winter season approaches.

In this article, we explore tried and tested methods that you can use to safeguard your home and garden this winter.

Table of Contents

Also see these Winter Maintenance articles:

 

What is Frost?

Frost is a natural weather phenomenon that occurs when temperatures drop below the freezing point, causing water vapor in the air to condense and freeze on surfaces such as grass, leaves, and windows. During this weather event, moisture in the air solidifies on surfaces as ice crystals. Though this crystalline layer of ice can be beautiful, it can be deceptively destructive.

Frost covered apple in an autumn morning

A frost covered apple in an autumn morning

Since frost can cause significant damage to both your garden and home, you’ll want to take proper steps to winterize your property well in advance of the risk of temperatures falling below freezing.

 

How Frost Can Damage Your Home and Garden

Leaves nettle frost season

If you want to safeguard your home and garden effectively from the cold snap of frost, you must first understand the types of serious damage frost can cause:

 

Stagnant Plant Growth

Frost formation during the cold weather can cause your plants to become wilted, as it sucks the moisture out of them, making them dry. Altogether, frost can not only damage your hardy plants and even young trees, but it can also kill tender plants if not cared for properly.

Wilted Gaillardia Aristata (Blanketflower) covered in frost

Wilted Gaillardia Aristata (Blanketflower) covered in frost

 

Frost Heaving

A common phenomenon that’s noticed in cold temperatures is frost heaving. Due to frost seeping into the soil, it causes the soil to expand and contract repeatedly, making the soil loose, harming the roots, which can trigger damage to plant health.

 

Inedible Fruits and Vegetables

Frost is known to damage crops, especially unharvested fruits and vegetables. Frost rots the fruits and vegetables from inside, harming the plant, flower and fruit in the process. That’s the reason why many home gardeners choose to harvest edible items well before the time when temperatures begin to drop even further.

Frost damaged green leaf chard

Frost damaged green leaf chard

 

Frozen Pipes

Frozen pipes are one of the biggest winter housing issues. Pipes that aren’t properly insulated are the first things that cold frost preys upon. Most of the pipes that go through the basement and attics can easily freeze in winter, leading to bursting. That’s why covering pipes with insulated materials is an essential protocol to follow, especially if you live in an area prone to having frost.

 

Structural Damage

When the exterior layers of a home have crevices or small gaps, frost can seep into them, expanding and contracting swiftly — another type of destructive frost heaving. This can cause some integral damage to the structure of a house or area around it, such as pavements and other structures like gazebos. This can further seep into the garden bed, leading to dry soil and damaged plants.

Exterior wall of home damaged by frost

Exterior wall of home damaged by frost

 

Damage to Shingles, Siding and Gutters

Since frost or snow first comes in contact with the exterior of the house, especially the roof, it can cause extensive damage to shingles, siding, and gutters. For instance, blocked gutters can cause leakage, and hampered siding and shingles can cause structural weight, leading to damaged walls and windows.

House gutter downspout, roof soffit, siding fascia

 

How to Protect Your Garden from Frost Damage

Grass frost winter frozen

If you’re worried about how to safeguard your garden from frost damage, these tips will provide you several methods to protect your garden:

 

Use Frost Blankets and Landscape Fabrics

Thuja shrubs covered in protective frost fabric

Thuja shrubs covered in protective frost fabric

During the winter season, frost blankets and landscape fabrics are used to protect the plants and soil from the cold temperature.

Protective fros fabric being secured over a rose bush

Protective frost fabric being secured over a rose bush

They not only shield your plants from the frost falling from above but also help maintain the optimum temperature so that plants can grow in a healthy environment.

Close up view of a strawberry plant wrapped in a breathable protective frost fabric

Close up view of a strawberry plant wrapped in a breathable protective frost fabric

Moreover, by using a strong frost blanket or landscape fabric, you can also keep weeds at bay.

Protective frost fabric being laid out in garden

Protective frost fabric in the process of being laid out in garden

 

Insulate Your Soil Using Mulching

Mulching refers to the process of covering the top layer of soil with leaves, twigs, branches, and grass, among other things, to insulate the soil beneath it. Mulching also regulates the temperature by minimizing heat loss, and helps the soil retain moisture during the dry seasons. By adding a layer of mulch to your garden’s soil, you can protect your garden from frost damage.

Mulch Bokashi Earth nature grow

 

Make Sure that Your Soil is Moist

As ironic as it may sound, moisture can actually prevent your plants and soil from frost damage. Watering your garden well in advance can give the soil the time it needs to absorb and retain its moisture.

For extra protection, you can spray antitranspirants on top of the soil to lock in the moisture. Remember to water the soil only, and not the leaves or flowers, as they can easily freeze because of the cold winds.

 

Relocate Potted Plants

While there are several things that you can do to protect your garden from the winter, it’s always better to bring potted plants indoors, as the weather starts to get cooler. Before doing so, take some time to acclimate your plants to the new environment, as the indoor temperature can be several degrees warmer. Winterizing the plants before moving them to a sheltered location can help with managing plant growth and frost damage.

Broken terracotta pot damaged by frost

Broken terracotta pot damaged by frost

 

Find External Heat Sources

Whether you have plants in pots or rooted in soil, beating cold winds requires adding an external source of heat for your garden. You can achieve a warmer temperature by using a solar heater, stone flooring, soil heat cables, and even Christmas lights under landscape fabrics or frost blankets to keep your soil and plants warm and cozy.

 

How to Protect Your Home from Frost Damage?

While your garden is the first one to fall prey to frost damage, your home will also need a line of defense.

Here are several ways to ensure frost protection for your home:

 

Insulate Exposed Pipes

Pipes that are located in the exterior of your home or in unheated spaces, such as attics, basements and crawl spaces, are more likely to freeze and even burst due to frost damage. To avoid this, always cover and insulate your exposed pipes with material such as fiberglass. To add an extra layer of protection, you can also seal any leaks and damaged pipes.

Insulated outdoor water spout and pipe to protect against freezing

 

Let Your Pipes Drip

Letting a little water drip from your faucets can actually prevent frost damage to a large extent. The simple act of letting a faucet run helps with the circulation of the entire water system in your home, leading to fewer cases of water freezing and, consequently, frost damage.

 

Block Out Air

It’s important to seal any cracks or damages around the windows to stop cold air from coming in and the warm air from going out. You can use a caulk weather-strip or invest in a full insulation kit for the windows to trap the air inside and create a layer of insulation inside your home. This will keep your house frost-free. This technique can be applied to doors and other open spaces as well. The main idea is to prevent the cold air from entering your home, which will create moisture that can convert into frost.

 

Clean and Protect Your Gutters

While cleaning out the gutters should be your priority all year-round, it becomes even more important as the frost season approaches. Focus on removing any debris, contaminants, or moisture that may cause stagnant frost and can even cause sagging of the gutters. Once you’ve cleaned out the space, use a gutter guard to prevent debris formation.

Gutter guard that needs cleaning and repair

 

Take Care of the Heating System

To avoid frost altogether, replace your heating system’s filter before the winter season to ensure that your home stays warm while making energy efficiency a priority. For the best results, get a smart thermostat that can adjust the temperature inside your home to keep it warm and offer frost protection.

 

Prepare for Emergencies

It is normal for frost to be followed by snow and blizzards. To keep your home safe from these conditions, as well, make sure you have backup heat systems, insulated attics and basements, and a sturdy exterior to keep your home and family safe as the weather starts to change.

This can be extremely important if you live in an area that’s prone to frost and snow. Preparing in advance for emergencies is an important step that you can take to safeguard your home and garden from frost.

 

Closing Comments

In order to safeguard your home and garden from frost, you need to understand the damage that it can cause and prepare for all kinds of situations well before the winter approaches. For protecting your garden and tender plants from frost, you can use sturdy frost protection blankets, mulching, watering the soil, keeping portable plants indoors, and provide an external source of heat to your plants to make them grow.

On the other hand, ensuring frost protection for your home involves taking meticulous care of the inner heating system, insulating the pipes and windows, as well as preparing for emergencies in case of frost damage.

Remember, preparing for frost protection in advance, at least a month before the winter season, can give you ample time to enjoy picturesque views of colder winter months, safely and comfortably.

 

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