While winters in Tucson tend to be mild, there are usually at least a few nights each year when frost becomes a concern. Luckily, there are steps that you can take to help prevent frost damage on your trees and other plants. Your landscaping company can also help you deal with any frost damage that does occur. Here is a closer look at what you can do to prevent and mitigate frost damage.

Preventing Frost Damage

Many native plants, including agave and cacti, will be able to survive temperatures that drop a few degrees below freezing without sustaining any damage. However, you may want to cover the growing tips of columnar cacti with Styrofoam cups or frost cloth to keep them safe. For delicate succulents, young citrus trees, and other plants that are not frost hardy, use frost cloth or old bedsheets to cover the plant completely, ensuring that the cloth reaches the ground to help keep heat in. If temperatures will be several degrees below freezing, you may want to use hot water bottles, strands of holiday lights, or other warm items to stave off freezing temperatures after you cover your plants. Moving potted plants to covered areas, such as patios, may be sufficient to protect them from mild frosts, but additional precautions should be taken in the event of a hard freeze, when the temperature drops several degrees below freezing and does not rise above freezing for several hours.

Dealing with Frost Damage

If you find that you have frost-damaged plants come springtime, talk to your landscaper to find out the best steps to take. For trees and shrubs, trimming the areas that sustained frost damage is
often ideal. However, you should avoid doing this yourself, as you may end up causing more harm to an already damaged plant. The certified arborists and other landscaping experts employed by your landscaping company will be able to evaluate your plants and determine the best course of action to save the plants and encourage new, healthy growth.

When you need the help of a certified arborist in Tucson, get in touch with Complete Landscaping. We offer a range of landscaping services, including tree trimming, irrigation repair, and landscape maintenance. Call us at (520) 323-8918 for additional information.