Photo credit: Jeurgen
A harsh winter can wrought massive damage on crops. During the 2008 blizzard in China, its economy suffered $7 billion of losses with millions of acres of crops damaged.
The plants in our garden will not be spared during such winter storms but in most years, they do survive well if you take adequate protection.
Generally, plants should not be exposed to extremely low temperatures as frost can damage the leaves, stems, tender buds, roots or the entire plant. When frozen, liquids in the plant cells expand and break the cell walls.
Most damage occurs due to fast thaw than frost which happen at the beginning of spring or during cold mornings that suddenly give way to hotter and clearer days. Below are some of the common damages.
Root damage and poor water absorption
Plants with roots that do not sink deeply in the soil are especially vulnerable to frost and may be damaged.
When the soil freezes, water turns to ice and makes water absorption impossible for the plants. This shows up as burns or colorless zones in leaves. The lack of water absorption is worsened during cold and windy days, which increases the dryness.
Damages in the bark and trunks
Cracks in the barks can occur when abrupt changes of temperatures take place. Trunks are damaged by the same reason and they appear as deep vertical cracks.
Damages in leaves and tender buds
Leaves and buds are most exposed to frost. They can become blackened in a few hours, or have burned edges, cork-like texture or wrinkles.
Unprotected buds turn from from green to brown which reduce the plant production during next spring.
Hopefully, this winter go easy on my crops. Sometimes, I get snow mold on my lawn or the prized trees and shrubs destroyed. After laboring over these plants, you feel really frustrated, which is why taking protective measures is so important.
