Hello from Vancouver Island! We have deer populations and in winter they eat almost anything. They also scrape their antlers on the bark of smaller trees and shrubs, removing the bark. They bed down in our backyard at night and fertilize (poop on) everything. I love to watch them as they are majestic animals, but much to my chagrin, they refuse to listen to me when I instruct them on which plants to eat (the weeds) and which ones to leave alone (shrubs, trees and flowers). I’m realizing that they’re the ones teaching me about what and what not to plant in what is actually their territory. Thank you for reminding us to work with nature rather than against it.
I have moose. I’m just not sure a twelve foot high fence of livestock fencing is worth it, but I do know animal repellant spray does not deter them in the least.
Maybe plant some berries & flowers they like so they’ll munch on them… choose their favorites or that are irresistible… kinda set a trap? I agree though, Mother Nature teaches us, as it should be ❤
all good stuff. You didn't mention evening frost damage. Here is San Jose CA, we get clear skies at night, and simply blocking the plant's view of the night sky reduces the effective freeze effect (raises the effective temperature, not the DB temperature) by about 10F, by drastically reducing radiant heat loss to the night sky. I have a bout 4 fragile medium bushes that i cover and uncover about 30 times during the frost season with simple spun cloth or landscape fabric, allowing the day sun in after about 10am, covering each clear cold night about 7pm.
Thank you! ❤ Floridian here, so shocked every winter how cold it gets; seems to come out of the blue, but yes, some warm days in-between… covering seems to really help but he’s right about the moisture for sure
I bought some gooseberries a few months ago which are known to handle British winters, but this info is helpful to keep in mind for future plants I might consider. I shouldn't expect palm trees to survive for example & even the very few that reportedly could may be more effort than it is worth.
I live in a dry zone 3 in the Rockies and would like to add a couple points to your excellent video. In this harsh environment I’ve had the best luck with local native evergreens that are suited to the cold, altitude AND low precipitation. I use an anti-desiccant spray for the first few years. They get a big drink in the fall from the hose, and sometimes in the winter if we get a warm spell. Most importantly, I plant them in planting beds. Lawn grass will suck up all the water in the summer, and then the evergreens start the winter already dry.
I am in zone 9b low AZ desert and we will be expecting a slight freeze soon. I have a few plants that will need winter protection. Birds or rabbits ate the tops of my sunflower yesterday. Thanks for the info!
I think living in zone 8b-9 is the hardest because my plants have to survive extreme heat (it was 110F several days) and humidity (almost always above 50% and often 100%) as well as extremes in cold. We get below freezing just enough days per year (anywhere from 2-7) days only. But it might be 78F days then 27F the next night and just enough to kill the tropicals. My plants get so confused, blooming when they aren’t supposed to, leafing out early, losing buds from sudden cold. Just a BRUTAL place to garden in. I never know which plant Is the “right plant” only ones that are super duper tough is all and stand the test of time. If it dies I don’t replant it. In summer the nights don’t cool enough anymore for the plants to recover. Tomatoes don’t like warm nights and hot days.
Thank you for the excellent explanation about keeping plants safe during a freeze - I've learned a lot from this video! Is it a good idea to water the ground around plants a day before it freezes in austin texas area?
Im in Northern CA zone 9B and grow plants that are considered a zone too cold here because I tind them much more interesting amd frankly beautiful than our natives. Both the ornamentals and fruit trees. Yeah I can plant something carefree like a stone fruit tree but I would prefer to have an avocado or mango tree or star fruit tree. I could plant a native like an oak tree or hardy ornamental like a crape myrtle or saucer mangolia but iI'd rather grow a jacaranda or pink tabebuia tree or plumeria. It's work and I have to not only cover them in the winter but also use artificial heating with incandescent string mini Christmas lights. There are other zone pushers/youtube channels here in the California central valley that grow entire backyards full of all tropicals that become hardy and adapt to our colder climate witbout cold protection. They show it can be done. I wouldn't have gotten into gardening if i was limited to growing only natives and whatever grows here without need for winter protection. Part of the fun is the challenge of growing what "shouldn't" grow here.
My dad has a very old cedar hedge. Its about 7 ft high and 6 feet deep...give or take. I arrived in October and asked my dad why some of them were growing sideways. He just shrugged his shoulders. After the first snowfall, the plow went by and I was horrified to see the amount of snow dumped on them. Mystery solved! Had this hedge been properly maintained, it would be 20 feet tall. I want to do what I can, but its so dead all the way through. It would be pruned, but just whatever was showing, part way through the branches. I have a professional coming to trim them and have been doing my best to get the tips of what can be 8 feet long branches with a few green sprigs on the end. Am I wasting my time? I really enjoyed your video. I just thought I'd throw this question out there out of frustration. He is in zone 5 as well, just outside Montreal. I hope it makes a bit of sense and thank you for your time.
Thank you for pointing out that insulation is to keep heat in, so it doesn't structurally keep plants warm because they don't produce heat. However, as others have pointed out, in warmer zones (I live in 8) the danger is often in nighttime temperatures and insulation does slow down the cooling. I'm pretty sure I've saved a plant by wrapping it with bubble wrap for specific nights. Leaving it on for long would be harmful.
Thanks for the info. One question - if I use something opaque to shelter foliage fully down to the ground (as opposed to clear as you say it creates temperature extremes) how will it get enough sunlight to keep photosynthesising? It will be in the dark all winter?
Thanls again for an other great advice. I could really use some advice with an other issue. My whole garden is covered with field horsetail. I tried to dig it out at one spot to make a patio. The roots are 3 m long , very thick and in a lasagna style some run on the top soil then 30cm deeper and so on until 150 cm deep . Everywhere. I thought that the best idea is to improve the soil, to make it less compacted and richer. Maybe starve the plants from sunlight and plant lupines. What would you recommend ?Thanks if you answer, and if not I understand that you are busy :)
I agree with what you said but can you explain how my bananas main stalk survives the winter if I first wrap them with frost cloth & then a layer of bubble wrap. I live in Pensacola Fl on cusp of 8b/9A and it seems to help when we have a few nights in low 30s to mid 20s. If I don’t do it I lose the main stalk all the way to the ground but they survive if I do it. Would appreciate your thoughts on this
I suspect the cold comes at night. Wrapping slows down the loss of heat in the stem that was gathered during the day, just enough so that there is no damage by morning, when things start warming up again.
What about an avocado tree in zone 9b. They're not very cold, hearty when they're young. But can handle it better after a few years. I need to protect my trees in the winter. What would be the best way?
@Gardenfundamentals1 They are in large pots because I have clay soil. I am planning on making a plastic greenhouse around them. I saw someone do it on a video.
Regarding protecting trees with leaves - aren't we supposed to avoid putting mulch on/by the stem of trees? Isn't there a risk that the leaves will rot on the trunk and damage it?
The leaves are only there over winter when the tree and pests are not doing very much. It is better not to use leaves, but it becomes a choice between some leaves in winter or frost damage. Best option, plant hardy things so you need neither.
I just use old, clean trash bins and large plastic flower pots. I just cover the plant and seal it by shoveling dirt all around the edge. But this is obviously only for smaller plants. It's a rule, I have, that anything too large to cover in a trash can, shouldn't be grown in winter in the first place. The wood wall is also really good. I have used thrown away wood furniture as a wind block (and I think it draws a little heat from the ground). None of this should be expensive or a lot of work.
Hi Robert. Can you do a video one day on the sexual plasticity of hops , cucumber and cannabis ? Your article on cucumber plasticity is great and i think it applies to hops and cannabis as well. Its my favorite topic in gardening, would love to hear your thoughts. There are a lot of ridiculous myths in the cannabis garden writing community that you would enjoy i think.
@@denyshadials5702 it's a part of environmental sex determination. The environment can have masculizing or femminizing effects on certain plants which alters the ratio of male to female flowers produced by an individual. My understanding is that the genes remain the same but the way they are expressed is altered. With cucumbers heat, shade and to some extent drought promote maleness. Ethylene controls cucumber sex expression but I wonder about cannabis because it has xx xy genetic determination but certainly is influenced by the environment.
i remember i was in a cactus section of a plant nursery admiring old man cactus. A son and father came up and father was teaching his son that cactus has those hairy furs to keep itself warm. i was like ........👀
I technically live in zone 9a. So I will buy plants that can survive down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. The problem is that often times our winters go into 15 degrees Fahrenheit for a couple of nights. So I figure, I will protect my trees (that I really love) a couple nights out of the year rather than not have them at all. For me it is simple as stringing them up with Christmas lights that are NOT LED. Them not being LED is the key.
I love my perenials but I have them in pots, I live in zone 9a but in the last few of years we have had single degree temperature winters, is it to late to put them in the ground?
Thanks. But trees like Junipers need light even in Winter. If you cover them in such a way that light doesn't reach them they will Die. What's your idea about this ?
If you cover with dark material or leaves or soil then no photosynthesis can happen anyway so why is that ok but not the spray that stops photosynthesis?? I don't see how doing anything to block all the light is any good???
Again, I ask: Is there anything I can do to reduce freezing and thawing of tulip bulbs in an 8 inches raised bed? Told leaves on top, but you're saying it brings mice = Eeek! So what other options I can do for Zone 6 in Ohio? And now Deers are starting to hang out in the city and our backyards as well.
@@debwiest8968 Thanks! This channel stated leaves covering brings mice??? Yikes I have my hardware cloth on now, once begin to sprout thru cloth will have to worry about the deers next in the city that's begun roaming my area. Geez, can't plant in peace anymore! LOL
Yah I ordered a dogwood from home depot. I live in wash state cold winter! They sent me a dogwood from FLORIDA! Now Im afraid and cover it till its taller than me. 5,5.
We live in Fl. 9A I just replanted lemon, lime, and orange trees that froze last year. I promised my husband I would cover them this year, so I don’t kill them again. 😬 if I don’t cover them, what’s the right thing to do to protect them the few days we get into the 20’s?
Water them good, Mulch them, and if you wrap them, make sure you string christmas lights within the wrapping. Not the LED lights, but the old kind that generate heat.
Vice versa is also true. Cold-hardy plants don't like warmth in winter. For example, the Siberian pine, a very close relative of the endangered American white bark pine, will not survive in London - proven with experiments. It is said to have been successfully introduced in the wild in Norway, however.
It is mostly right that wrapping the plant will not heat it up (like us, humans) because of the reason you stated. But it is little bit more nuanced than that. Namely, during the night the surface (of the Earth, including surfaces of the plant) emit infrared radiation into air/space much more compared to incoming radiation. This lower the temperature of the surface dramatically, especially if there is no cloud cover and relative humidity is low. If you cover the surface (or, wrap the plant), you introduce a blockage for the infrared radiation to escape out to the air/space, and the cover effectively radiates that energy back keeping the surface temperature higher than would be without the cover/wrap. Much similar to the back radiation of the cloud cover above the surface - if sky is cloudy, the temperature doesn't drop as low as it does during clear nights, because of back radiation from the clouds.
Sorry, but I could only take 4 minutes of this slow talking guy. I'm sure he's probably well versed on the subject matter, but I'd rather read a book vs. listening to him talk.
Hello from Vancouver Island! We have deer populations and in winter they eat almost anything. They also scrape their antlers on the bark of smaller trees and shrubs, removing the bark. They bed down in our backyard at night and fertilize (poop on) everything. I love to watch them as they are majestic animals, but much to my chagrin, they refuse to listen to me when I instruct them on which plants to eat (the weeds) and which ones to leave alone (shrubs, trees and flowers). I’m realizing that they’re the ones teaching me about what and what not to plant in what is actually their territory. Thank you for reminding us to work with nature rather than against it.
I have moose. I’m just not sure a twelve foot high fence of livestock fencing is worth it, but I do know animal repellant spray does not deter them in the least.
Maybe plant some berries & flowers they like so they’ll munch on them… choose their favorites or that are irresistible… kinda set a trap? I agree though, Mother Nature teaches us, as it should be ❤
Great information, and honestly, I'm not mad at the presentation. You're very easy to listen to. The info was clear and easy to follow.
all good stuff. You didn't mention evening frost damage. Here is San Jose CA, we get clear skies at night, and simply blocking the plant's view of the night sky reduces the effective freeze effect (raises the effective temperature, not the DB temperature) by about 10F, by drastically reducing radiant heat loss to the night sky. I have a bout 4 fragile medium bushes that i cover and uncover about 30 times during the frost season with simple spun cloth or landscape fabric, allowing the day sun in after about 10am, covering each clear cold night about 7pm.
Thank you! ❤ Floridian here, so shocked every winter how cold it gets; seems to come out of the blue, but yes, some warm days in-between… covering seems to really help but he’s right about the moisture for sure
I bought some gooseberries a few months ago which are known to handle British winters, but this info is helpful to keep in mind for future plants I might consider. I shouldn't expect palm trees to survive for example & even the very few that reportedly could may be more effort than it is worth.
I live in a dry zone 3 in the Rockies and would like to add a couple points to your excellent video. In this harsh environment I’ve had the best luck with local native evergreens that are suited to the cold, altitude AND low precipitation. I use an anti-desiccant spray for the first few years. They get a big drink in the fall from the hose, and sometimes in the winter if we get a warm spell. Most importantly, I plant them in planting beds. Lawn grass will suck up all the water in the summer, and then the evergreens start the winter already dry.
THANK YOU FOR THIS, 🙄 You Tube act like they know what I'm looking for and everyone channel no one speaks of winter protection
This man knows what he's talking about!
I am in zone 9b low AZ desert and we will be expecting a slight freeze soon. I have a few plants that will need winter protection. Birds or rabbits ate the tops of my sunflower yesterday. Thanks for the info!
Thanks for your professional advice, I appreciate you.
My pleasure!
I think living in zone 8b-9 is the hardest because my plants have to survive extreme heat (it was 110F several days) and humidity (almost always above 50% and often 100%) as well as extremes in cold. We get below freezing just enough days per year (anywhere from 2-7) days only. But it might be 78F days then 27F the next night and just enough to kill the tropicals. My plants get so confused, blooming when they aren’t supposed to, leafing out early, losing buds from sudden cold. Just a BRUTAL place to garden in. I never know which plant
Is the “right plant” only ones that are super duper tough is all and stand the test of time. If it dies I don’t replant it. In summer the nights don’t cool enough anymore for the plants to recover. Tomatoes don’t like warm nights and hot days.
Thank you for the excellent explanation about keeping plants safe during a freeze - I've learned a lot from this video! Is it a good idea to water the ground around plants a day before it freezes in austin texas area?
Im in Northern CA zone 9B and grow plants that are considered a zone too cold here because I tind them much more interesting amd frankly beautiful than our natives. Both the ornamentals and fruit trees. Yeah I can plant something carefree like a stone fruit tree but I would prefer to have an avocado or mango tree or star fruit tree. I could plant a native like an oak tree or hardy ornamental like a crape myrtle or saucer mangolia but iI'd rather grow a jacaranda or pink tabebuia tree or plumeria. It's work and I have to not only cover them in the winter but also use artificial heating with incandescent string mini Christmas lights. There are other zone pushers/youtube channels here in the California central valley that grow entire backyards full of all tropicals that become hardy and adapt to our colder climate witbout cold protection. They show it can be done. I wouldn't have gotten into gardening if i was limited to growing only natives and whatever grows here without need for winter protection. Part of the fun is the challenge of growing what "shouldn't" grow here.
What are you talking about? Y’all can grow virtually everything in northern CA apart from tulips.
@mc3newsmcocconcierge504 we can grow tulips too. I have some that come back in the spring. So does my neighbor.
My dad has a very old cedar hedge. Its about 7 ft high and 6 feet deep...give or take. I arrived in October and asked my dad why some of them were growing sideways. He just shrugged his shoulders. After the first snowfall, the plow went by and I was horrified to see the amount of snow dumped on them. Mystery solved! Had this hedge been properly maintained, it would be 20 feet tall. I want to do what I can, but its so dead all the way through. It would be pruned, but just whatever was showing, part way through the branches. I have a professional coming to trim them and have been doing my best to get the tips of what can be 8 feet long branches with a few green sprigs on the end. Am I wasting my time? I really enjoyed your video. I just thought I'd throw this question out there out of frustration. He is in zone 5 as well, just outside Montreal. I hope it makes a bit of sense and thank you for your time.
Noticed the drier aspect though for sure! That really seems to irritate them even more than the cold, but with the freeze it’s terrible
Thank you Mr. P. A lot of useful common sense information. 🎃🍁🍂💚🙃
Thank you for pointing out that insulation is to keep heat in, so it doesn't structurally keep plants warm because they don't produce heat. However, as others have pointed out, in warmer zones (I live in 8) the danger is often in nighttime temperatures and insulation does slow down the cooling. I'm pretty sure I've saved a plant by wrapping it with bubble wrap for specific nights. Leaving it on for long would be harmful.
Good advice. The wire cage is made from hardware cloth it's called.
Thanks for the info. One question - if I use something opaque to shelter foliage fully down to the ground (as opposed to clear as you say it creates temperature extremes) how will it get enough sunlight to keep photosynthesising? It will be in the dark all winter?
Buy the right plants!
Thanls again for an other great advice. I could really use some advice with an other issue. My whole garden is covered with field horsetail. I tried to dig it out at one spot to make a patio. The roots are 3 m long , very thick and in a lasagna style some run on the top soil then 30cm deeper and so on until 150 cm deep . Everywhere. I thought that the best idea is to improve the soil, to make it less compacted and richer. Maybe starve the plants from sunlight and plant lupines. What would you recommend ?Thanks if you answer, and if not I understand that you are busy :)
I like your content so much I am watching all your videos in 2x speed ...
Great information!
I agree with what you said but can you explain how my bananas main stalk survives the winter if I first wrap them with frost cloth & then a layer of bubble wrap. I live in Pensacola Fl on cusp of 8b/9A and it seems to help when we have a few nights in low 30s to mid 20s. If I don’t do it I lose the main stalk all the way to the ground but they survive if I do it. Would appreciate your thoughts on this
I suspect the cold comes at night. Wrapping slows down the loss of heat in the stem that was gathered during the day, just enough so that there is no damage by morning, when things start warming up again.
What about an avocado tree in zone 9b. They're not very cold, hearty when they're young. But can handle it better after a few years. I need to protect my trees in the winter. What would be the best way?
If they are in the ground, cover the hole thing right to the ground.
@Gardenfundamentals1 They are in large pots because I have clay soil. I am planning on making a plastic greenhouse around them. I saw someone do it on a video.
Regarding protecting trees with leaves - aren't we supposed to avoid putting mulch on/by the stem of trees? Isn't there a risk that the leaves will rot on the trunk and damage it?
The leaves are only there over winter when the tree and pests are not doing very much. It is better not to use leaves, but it becomes a choice between some leaves in winter or frost damage.
Best option, plant hardy things so you need neither.
I just use old, clean trash bins and large plastic flower pots. I just cover the plant and seal it by shoveling dirt all around the edge. But this is obviously only for smaller plants.
It's a rule, I have, that anything too large to cover in a trash can, shouldn't be grown in winter in the first place.
The wood wall is also really good. I have used thrown away wood furniture as a wind block (and I think it draws a little heat from the ground).
None of this should be expensive or a lot of work.
We live in a climate where it usually doesn't get lower than -10deg Celsius. Does it make sense to put plants in my small green house?
Hi Robert. Can you do a video one day on the sexual plasticity of hops , cucumber and cannabis ? Your article on cucumber plasticity is great and i think it applies to hops and cannabis as well. Its my favorite topic in gardening, would love to hear your thoughts. There are a lot of ridiculous myths in the cannabis garden writing community that you would enjoy i think.
…I’m sorry but I gotta ask. Did you really say ‘sexual plasticity’?
@@denyshadials5702 yes
@@denyshadials5702 it's a part of environmental sex determination. The environment can have masculizing or femminizing effects on certain plants which alters the ratio of male to female flowers produced by an individual. My understanding is that the genes remain the same but the way they are expressed is altered. With cucumbers heat, shade and to some extent drought promote maleness. Ethylene controls cucumber sex expression but I wonder about cannabis because it has xx xy genetic determination but certainly is influenced by the environment.
i remember i was in a cactus section of a plant nursery admiring old man cactus. A son and father came up and father was teaching his son that cactus has those hairy furs to keep itself warm. i was like ........👀
I technically live in zone 9a. So I will buy plants that can survive down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. The problem is that often times our winters go into 15 degrees Fahrenheit for a couple of nights.
So I figure, I will protect my trees (that I really love) a couple nights out of the year rather than not have them at all. For me it is simple as stringing them up with Christmas lights that are NOT LED. Them not being LED is the key.
Great info. Thank you. Ever been told you look like George Carlin, or Mick Fleetwood?
Do you still cover your tomatoes when the temp is 43° at night 76°during the day??
I love my perenials but I have them in pots, I live in zone 9a but in the last few of years we have had single degree temperature winters, is it to late to put them in the ground?
Thanks. But trees like Junipers need light even in Winter. If you cover them in such a way that light doesn't reach them they will Die.
What's your idea about this ?
Burlap is not light tight.
They won't die winter is not 12 months
If you cover with dark material or leaves or soil then no photosynthesis can happen anyway so why is that ok but not the spray that stops photosynthesis?? I don't see how doing anything to block all the light is any good???
This guy has some good info
I DIDN’T KNOW THAT!!!!!! 🤗
Is there anything I can do to reduce freezing and thawing of tulip bulbs in an 8 inches raised bed?
Again, I ask:
Is there anything I can do to reduce freezing and thawing of tulip bulbs in an 8 inches raised bed? Told leaves on top, but you're saying it brings mice = Eeek!
So what other options I can do for Zone 6 in Ohio? And now Deers are starting to hang out in the city and our backyards as well.
@@carbar3936Cover the beds with a layer of hardware cloth before covering with leaves.
@@debwiest8968 Thanks! This channel stated leaves covering brings mice??? Yikes I have my hardware cloth on now, once begin to sprout thru cloth will have to worry about the deers next in the city that's begun roaming my area. Geez, can't plant in peace anymore! LOL
Yah I ordered a dogwood from home depot. I live in wash state cold winter! They sent me a dogwood from FLORIDA! Now Im afraid and cover it till its taller than me. 5,5.
We live in Fl. 9A I just replanted lemon, lime, and orange trees that froze last year. I promised my husband I would cover them this year, so I don’t kill them again. 😬 if I don’t cover them, what’s the right thing to do to protect them the few days we get into the 20’s?
Water them good, Mulch them, and if you wrap them, make sure you string christmas lights within the wrapping. Not the LED lights, but the old kind that generate heat.
@@robertkost377saved Palm trees with lights
Helpful ‼️
gracias
Even if the plant dies in the winter but come back up in the summer. Do i have to cover it?
If it dies in winter it will not come back in summer.
If it is hardy in your area, even if it goes under ground, it does not need to be covered.
Vice versa is also true. Cold-hardy plants don't like warmth in winter. For example, the Siberian pine, a very close relative of the endangered American white bark pine, will not survive in London - proven with experiments. It is said to have been successfully introduced in the wild in Norway, however.
It is mostly right that wrapping the plant will not heat it up (like us, humans) because of the reason you stated. But it is little bit more nuanced than that. Namely, during the night the surface (of the Earth, including surfaces of the plant) emit infrared radiation into air/space much more compared to incoming radiation. This lower the temperature of the surface dramatically, especially if there is no cloud cover and relative humidity is low. If you cover the surface (or, wrap the plant), you introduce a blockage for the infrared radiation to escape out to the air/space, and the cover effectively radiates that energy back keeping the surface temperature higher than would be without the cover/wrap. Much similar to the back radiation of the cloud cover above the surface - if sky is cloudy, the temperature doesn't drop as low as it does during clear nights, because of back radiation from the clouds.
Dashing in that hat. Love those kind of hats on men instead of ugly ball caps.
👍👍👍
Mr downer waan wann
What's good for squirrels eating the tops off my sweet potato leaves 😢
Correction that material is called hardware cloth, not chicken wire.
you really think its ok to deliberately starve wild animals?
Sorry, but I could only take 4 minutes of this slow talking guy. I'm sure he's probably well versed on the subject matter, but I'd rather read a book vs. listening to him talk.
Go to settings. You can speed up RUclips video playback speeds.
You’ll also get there some day if you’re lucky.