Houston Freeze: How to protect your plants ahead of freezing temperatures

Taisha Walker, Reporter

HOUSTON – A much-anticipated freeze expected to hit the Houston area has nurseries urging people not to forget about their plants.

At Enchanted Forrest in Richmond, employees have always prepared the plants for the extreme cold.

Plant beds are usually covered with frost clothes, while tropical and cold-sensitive plants are brought into greenhouses.

“Covering is going to be a critical step in this. We’re finally getting some rain from mother nature, so you want to make sure all your plants have moisture that will help it go down to a colder temperature recovery,” said Danny Lenderman, owner of Enchanted Forrest.

Lenderman said should your outdoor plants, such as citrus trees and tropical plants need covering, make sure to do it well to keep in the heat and use an external heat source.

“Like a light or halogen bulb that produces heat,” Lenderman said. “Make sure the bulb is not near anything flammable. You might have a second problem on your hands. First, it’s gonna freeze then it’s gonna burn.”

While many plants cannot survive the extreme cold, others can, said Joshua Kornegy, owner of Joshua’s Native Plants in The Heights.

“These are olive trees. More popular than ever in Houston because they don’t freeze and make black olives,” Kornegy said.

Kornegy said plants that are native to southeast Texas are immune to the cold and don’t require covering.

“Some things are just going to lose their leaves. Other things will get burnt leaves or even freeze to the ground but the roots are still good. So, they’ll emerge eventually be it one month, two months or even three months later,” he said.

He suggests giving weathered plants time to recover.

“We made huge amounts of money after the big freeze two years ago because people jumped the gun and dug up things and cut things out right after the freeze when they should have waited and they would have had a lot of recoveries.”

Kornegy suggests investing in mulch to add to the roots of your plants to lock in moisture and keep weeds at bay.