How to keep your garden safe as temperatures dip

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – As temperatures drop near freezing following an unseasonably hot few days, you may be wondering how to keep your plants safe.

Cold temperatures are back and frost could damage what you put in the ground.

Sixteen Acres Garden Center Manager Steve Bordenuk gave some tips on how to protect your plants and garden vegetables this spring.

Plants and crops can get damaged from frost, according to Bordenuk, but a key item can help.

“When it melts, it acts like a little razor and it cuts right into the leaf of the plant,” he said.

Western Mass News meteorologists say frost usually lasts until the middle of May in the region.

The key item to protect your garden: a protective cover.

“If we do get any more nights down below 32 (degrees), you can always cover them with some type of landscape fabric (or) a sheet,” said Bordenuk.

The garden center recommends sticking to cold-tolerant varieties for now. Besides veggies, you can do perennials, trees, fruit trees and shrubs.

Bordenuk says there are other ways to provide protection as we are dealing with the cold temperatures.

“If there are pots, you can always bring them inside,” he said. “Put them into your garage or on the porch. If they’re in the ground, you just have to cover them up.”

The garden center will start selling warm-tolerant plants and vegetables in the middle of May.

For now, if you plan on planting anything, you are advised to take proper care of those plants and vegetables as this cold stretch continues.