ARKANSAS, USA — Arkansans who were eager to get their spring and summer plants planted early this year because of an unusually warm winter may need to take some steps to protect their plants this week.
With temperature lows expected near freezing in Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley, people and plants may need to be bundled up.
"A way to protect things that you've already planted is with a frost cloth or a sheet,” Mindy Mahan, owner of Chicken Holler Lawn and Garden in Farmington, said. “A frost cloth would be a bit better because it would hold in the temperature a little more.”
Mahan adds that if one of those two options is not available, people can also use household items like a Styrofoam cup.
“A Styrofoam cup works really well to push down over the plant and kind of dig it down in the dirt to protect it just for like one or two nights,” Mahan said. “That works really well if you don't have a whole bunch of plants.”
Colin Massey, a Washington County agent in horticulture for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service, says the estimated average frost for the area lasts up until around April 10 to April 20.
Massey said people with smaller or hanging pots should bring their plants indoors if they fear they will get damaged during cold nights.
Mahan said planting summer produce and flowers after Tax Day is usually a good rule of thumb for gardeners.
"We all get antsy and want to plant before it's really time,” Mahan said. “Usually our last frost date is not until around Tax Day, somewhere around the middle of April.”
Forecasted cold weather not only affects most plants but also impacts local lawn and garden companies as well.
"It's like a light switch,” Mahan said. “If we have a beautiful, warm, sunny day, we have an influx of customers and we are very busy. When the weatherman says it's going to freeze, that day will be very, very slow."
The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Program has a Year-Round Home Garden Planning Chart to help people decide when to plant certain produce.
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