Key Takeaways
One of the best ways to protect plants from frost damage is to water them deeply before the first frost hits.Plants, trees, and shrubs may continue to need supplemental water until the ground freezes over.Season extension products, tree guards, fencing, and repellant sprays can also protect plants from winter pests and cold damage.
Frost can damage plants and make outdoor work much more challenging, so it’s essential to get all your necessary fall gardening chores done before the first frost hits. From mulching to planting, there’s plenty to do in your fall garden to get ready for the incoming season and the changing weather. But do you have to take care of everything?
We asked three plant pros to name the one task gardeners can’t afford skip before the first frost comes, and they all agreed that tackling this one essential garden task is the key to making your plants more resilient in cold weather and reducing the risk of winter damage.
Below, they explain why watering your plants ahead of the first frost is so important.
Meet the Expert
Cynthia Haynes, PhD is a professor of horticulture at the Iowa State University.
Kyra Alex is the founder and executive director of The Garden Project in Stonington, Maine.
Spencer Campbell is the plant clinic manager at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois.
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karetoria / Getty Images
The Number One Garden Task to Do Before Frost
While there are a lot of fall gardening tasks that need attention, if frost is on the forecast and you don’t have much time to get to everything else on your list before the cold comes, there’s one task to prioritize above the rest: watering.
“As frost approaches, one of the most valuable things gardeners can do is water trees, shrubs, and perennials thoroughly,” says Spencer Campbell of the Morton Arboretum. “Plants, especially evergreens and new plantings, need sufficient moisture to withstand winter stress and support healthy root growth.” Without it, plants can get dry, turn brown, and potentially suffer from enough damage that they may survive until spring.
Plants generally grow best if you water them just before frost, and continue to water regularly until the ground freezes solid. But rather than watering often and lightly, Campbell recommends deep and slow watering, which helps water better penetrate the soil and reach deeply buried plant roots. “After watering, add a 2- to 3-inch layer of mulch around the base of plants and keep the mulch a few inches from stems and trunks,” Campbell says. “Mulch helps insulate the soil, conserve moisture, and reduces freeze–thaw stress through winter.”
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Credit:
The Spruce / Jayme Burrows
3 Fall Garden Myths
While you should continue to water your plants throughout the fall, there are several fall gardening myths you should avoid.
One common myth is that autumn leaves always need raking. The truth is that leaving some autumn leaves in your garden until spring can help to reduce weeds, shelter plant roots from cold, and provide a valuable habitat for overwintering pollinators. Finely mulched leaves can also be left on your grass throughout winter to feed the soil, but thick layers of leaves should be raked away so they don’t smother your plants or lawn.
Two other myths that gardeners also fall for is believing that autumn is a bad time for planting or that all perennials need to be cut back before winter. Fall is actually the perfect season to plant garlic, spring flowering bulbs, and many more bare root trees and shrubs. Though pruning some species of flowering perennials is recommended in fall—that’s not true for all plant and tree types. Pruning certain plants in autumn can reduce blooming and make plants more vulnerable to cold damage. There’s never a one-size-fits-all-approach to gardening, which is why it’s important to always research your plants and double check that you’re planting and pruning them at the right times of the year.
Credit:
The Spruce / Jacob Fox
5 Other Fall Garden Tasks
Although plants should be watered before the first frost, other fall gardening tasks are more flexible and can be performed before or after the frost comes, depending on where you live and how much time you have to garden. Here’s what you should keep a look out for:
Amend the soil. “As a no-till gardener, I’m very passionate about covering our growing beds each fall with found nourishment from things like straw, seaweed, leaves, coffee grounds, or compost,” Kyra Alex of the Stonington Garden Project says. Many slow-release fertilizers and manure can be applied in fall too–either before or after frost.
Protect tender plants. Tender plants, like tomatoes, should be harvested before the frost hits, but more cold hardy plants can tolerate some light frosts or freezes. Adding season extension products, like cloches and row covers, before cold weather arrives can extend your growing season by weeks or even months.
Bring houseplants in. Beyond tender outdoor plants, houseplants should also be brought indoors before the frost hits. “If I have any houseplants that are vacationing outside for the summer, I bring them in before temperatures drop into the mid 40s,” says Cynthia Haynes of Iowa State University. “If there’s time, I’ll inspect them for insects before I bring them inside and spray them with insecticidal soap to remove pests.”
Pest-proof plants. Voles, deer, and other hungry animals can take their toll on perennials, trees, and shrubs in winter. But you can protect your plants with fencing, tree guards, and repellant sprays.
Clean up your garden beds. Pests and diseases can overwinter in your garden and reoccur in spring if you’re not careful. To avoid this, wait for plants to die back with cold and then remove and destroy any pest- and disease-ridden plant debris.
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