If you are chomping at the bit to get out and get gardening... guess what? So are we! BUT, it's still early in most areas and Jack Frost is still nipping at the radishes, and lettuce, and pansies. So, you'll probably need to protect your young plantings for just a bit yet. Here's how.

Covers- the easiest thing to do to protect your plants is to provide some type of covering. Just as a blanket will keep you warm, it will also protect your plants. Cover them with a sheet, blanket or newspaper. If you need to, make a "tent" using poles so that the weight of the covering doesn't damage young plants. This will also protect against windburn in our windy part of the country.

Avoid plastic coverings however. Plastic actually conducts the cold better and may harm plants.

Water can be used to protect against freezing. Set it to come on between 3-4 am and let it run until the sun comes up. If plants do show some signs of damage, wait a few days in order to give them time to recover before pulling them up and replacing them.

If you don't have access to water and don't have blankets, then there are some wonderful, and fairly inexpensive products that are available to help you.

Season Starters or Wall O Waters, are tubular "tents" that go around the plants. They are filled with water and once that heats up from the sun, they act as a protectant for the plant.

Harvest Guard or NSulate Cloth are lightweight covers that will serve to keep frost off of plants. These are especially helpful in covering large areas and are re-useable year after year so they are economical.

NuVue Frost Covers look like little pup tents. They are spring loaded and pop up to easily cover not only garden plants but also shrubs and bushes from snow during the winter months. Best of all, they fold flat for easy storage in your garage.

Freeze Pruf is like antifreeze for your plants. This is a topical spray that works into the capillary system of the plant and can improve cold tolerance down by 9 degrees. You must use it when temperatures are above 50 degrees and a minimum of 8-12 hours before the expected freeze in order to give it time to work through the system of the plant.

So get ready, get set, and get out and garden! Remember cold and cole crops, along with pansies, sweet peas and violas can all be planted now. Just give them a little protection if the temperatures fall below 45 degrees!

Early Spring Gardening Ideas

It appears that it's going to be an early spring! And while that's great news for some, for gardeners, it can be a little worrisome. What I'm talking about is the potential for freezing down the road. For instance, all of the apricot trees in our area are in full bloom and many of the other fruit and ornamental flowering trees aren't far behind them. If we get a hard freeze, such as is predicted for Sunday and Monday evenings, we will surely lose those blooms and probably the fruit crop.

One thing that you can try is a product called Freeze Pruf. In layman's terms, this is like an antifreeze for your plants, and will protect down to 9 degrees below freezing. However, you MUST apply it in advance of the freeze so that the capillary system of the plant has a chance to take it in. If you wait until the time of frost or slightly before, it will not work.

We're excited about the warm spring weather and are anticipating a great gardening season acros the country. If you haven't been to your local garden center yet, it's time to get your garden on!