Winter weather could wreak havoc on your garden and your wallet

Winter conditions could cost you thousands of dollars in repairs to your garden. Eyewitness News reporter Savannah Louie tells us how to prepare your garden for this week's winter weather.

Savannah Louie , KENS 6:42 PM. CST January 15, 2018

Cold, frost, and snow are expected in the Alamo City this week, and if you don’t prepare your home and garden today, you could face some pricey repairs.

Connie Swann, director of marketing at the San Antonio Botanical Garden, says cold weather creates big problems for plants in areas that don’t typically see freezing temperatures.

“Citrus plants are really susceptible to frost, young fresh plants, if you’ve planted them within the last year, succulent plants,” she said.

Even one or two degrees in temperature could be the difference between your blossoming garden and an eyesore later this spring.

But protecting your plants is easy – most folks already have garden-saving items laying around the house.

“Anything that you would put over you to keep warm is great. Any sort of fabric, linin, even clothes or blankets,” advises horticulturist Ben Ryan. “Common mistakes I usually see – when people wrap their plants, a lot of it, they won’t get that frost cloth all the way down to the ground and actually protect the root system.”

And if you don’t want to dirty your linens, Ryan has a simple solution.

“We do use some Christmas lights,” he says. “It’s important to keep them away from the fabric so they won’t cause any fire issues, but it’s important to hold that heat as well.”

But more important than keeping your garden beautiful – is avoiding expensive repairs.

“A lot of times that water left in those lateral lines of your irrigation system will expand when it freezes and burst those lines and cause you a lot of costly repairs,” said Ryan. “It could be anywhere from a hundred to a couple thousand.”