What is the Best Type of Frost Protection For Your Garden?

We had a light frost last week. Yes, in the middle of June; never fun for a gardener, but it gave me a good opportunity to compare some different types of frost protection and figure out which types of frost covers work best! Having a very large garden this year, we used everything we could find to cover plants, including real “frost cover” blankets, sheets, plastic, a big old tarp, hay, pots, buckets and salad containers. I wanted to share the results with my readers, so here it goes!

We had two very cold nights. The first night it was around 35 degrees, pouring down rain and windy, so some of my covers blew off. This weather was more damaging to plants than the next night, where it hit right around 32 degrees but was clear.

Real “Frost Covers”

I used the real frost covers over sunflowers and peppers. It worked well for the sunflowers with no damage. The peppers had some minor frost damage on the top leaves that were touching the frost cover, but I didn’t lose any plants.

Bedsheets

I used old sheets over corn, beans and sweet potatoes. The first night, they were soaked through from the rain, and the corn and beans had some damage on their top leaves from the cold. I brought the sheets in and dried them before the second night, and they did fine protecting the plants from light frost when it was dry.

Plastic

For garden huckleberries, tomatoes and basil I used a huge sheet of thick, clear plastic. The first night in the wind it blew off of some of my plants. It also filled with rain and broke some of my tomatoes that did not have cages. The tomatoes that were in cages were more protected and did fairly well.

Old Tarp

The tarp I used had already been used a couple seasons and was no longer water tight, so the first night the cold rain just went right through it. The corn and beans had some damage on the top leaves, similar to with the sheets and the frost cover. The tarp did fine protecting from light frost the second night.

Hay

I already had a thick layer of old hay around my squash, cucumbers and melons, so just pulled some of the hay up over the small plants for two nights. I did the same thing with some of my smaller beans and corn. It worked great! No frost damage at all! The only disadvantage to using hay in the garden is that it can contain grass seeds. Since my garden was already covered in thick grass before we tilled it up this season, I am not too worried about introducing new seeds, and have have found that using a thick layer of hay as mulch smothers the grass and makes weeding much easier. If I had a grass-free garden spot, I would be more cautious about using hay as a frost cover and maybe would try straw instead.

Buckets, Pots and Recycled Plastic Salad Containers

By the time I reached my last row of beans, I was running short on row covers so grabbed anything I could find. I used five gallon buckets, flower pots and recycled plastic salad containers, each with a rock on top. It was a little more work, but these plants actually fared better than those under row covers, sheets, tarps and plastic. The covers stayed on and there was no frost damage. You could also buy cloches for a similar effect, or use recycled milk jugs and soda bottles!

So, in conclusion, my first choice next frost will be these odds and ends containers, and my second choice will be old, rotten hay. Now, a week after the frost, my garden is perking up, growing fast and looking promising for the year!