SPOKANE, Wash. — Weekend frost may damage newly planted gardens, but master gardeners say there are ways to protect vulnerable plants.
Many gardeners planted early this week when warm weather made it feel like summer had arrived. Now they need to take precautions before Saturday night’s freezing temperatures.
“A lot of people have already planted their tomatoes,” said Julie McElroy, a Washington State University Master Gardener volunteer.
McElroy recommends moving potted plants indoors or to the garage. For plants already in the ground, she suggests covering them before bedtime Saturday.
“If you have a tomato that has a cage on it, that’s pretty easy to protect. You could just wrap a blanket around it. You could use a sheet, but that’s not going to protect to. It’ll protect them from the wind, but not if it really freezes,” McElroy said.
She advises weighing down sheets or blankets with rocks or bricks so they don’t blow away.
Native plants that have adjusted to the soil temperature should survive the frost.
“It’s just the newly planted plants that are really susceptible to death,” McElroy said.
The master gardener says patience is key for successful gardening in Spokane.
“The main thing you need when you’re a gardener is patience. Patience in when you’re going to plant, patience in when you think the plant’s okay,” she said. “If you wait till the end of the month, you’ll still get tomatoes this year, I promise.”
Master gardeners recommend waiting until the end of May before planting to avoid frost damage. Gardeners with questions can send photos of their plants to master gardener volunteers for help.
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