With North Texas expected to spend several consecutive days below freezing, a landscaping company is urging people to plan. Highland Landscaping is located in Southlake and works on projects for homes and businesses.
North Texas dropped to 29 degrees Friday morning but reached into the 40s by afternoon; a high temperature of 53 degrees is forecast Saturday before the National Weather Service predicts the area will stay below freezing from Saturday night through Wednesday morning.
Before the sustained freeze arrives, Highland Landscaping Owner Ian MacLean urges homeowners to water their plants.
"It's better for a plant to be wet when a freeze hits than dry," MacLean said. "You have a higher risk of losing shrubs and ornamentals if they're dry when the freeze arrives."
MacLean says homeowners should also test rain sensors and shut off their sprinkler systems or water decorations during the freeze.
For trees, MacLean says homeowners should consider adding mulch to protect roots.
"Canopy trees, ornamental trees, shrubs, make sure you've got a good mulch layer down," MacLean said. "That two or three inches of mulch insulating the roots is going to be enough to keep the root systems insulated from cold weather."
MacLean says people can wrap shrubs and palm trees in burlap. He suggests wrapping a string of Christmas lights around the plant inside a burlap sack.
"That will create additional warmth for the plants," MacLean said. "It makes a big difference. We've had customers with plants that absolutely would have been lost in a freezing event, the day after the freeze, we'd pull the cloth off and it looks as happy and healthy as before it got wrapped."
Homeowners can also cover their hose spigots with towels, cloths, or styrofoam to provide insulation. MacLean says people should also check freeze sensors on pools and water features to make sure they are working properly.
For people with tankless water heaters along exterior walls, MacLean urges you to keep hot water trickling.
For homeowners who have plants or smaller trees in pots, he says those should either be brought into the house or placed under a heat lamp in the garage. MacLean says pansies or other flowers should be covered with a frost cloth or blanket.
"They'll look a lot fresher and happier once the freeze lifts," MacLean said.
Regardless of whether you bring plants inside or wrap them, MacLean urges homeowners not to wait until Sunday to stock up supplies they might need during the freeze.
"There's going to be a run burlap, there's going to be a run on frost cloth, there's going to be a run on ice melt," MacLean said. "The people who wait until the moment before it happens to go out to the hardware store, they're sold out."
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