With snow falling, I knew it was cold this morning when I went out to take the kids to school ... and couldn't get the car doors open. They were frozen stuck.
Snow has arrived early in my part of the East Midlands, and in many other areas too. The BBC radio weather forecast this morning summed it up nicely: plunging temperatures, record-breaking conditions, no sign of it letting-up all week.
And what was that I heard about parts of the UK being among the coldest places on the planet? It’s all the fault of that brisk north-easterly, bringing with it cold winds, freezing temperatures, and snow!
With snow falling, I knew it was cold this morning when I went out to take the kids to school … and couldn’t get the car doors open. They were frozen stuck. Oh well, at least it won’t be me that gets a detention for being late.
It is still only November (well, just) but I can’t remember conditions like this so early in winter before. I’m sure my friendly BBC weather forecaster will provide me with plenty more weather statistics when I next tune in.
So, what does this mean for our plants and gardens? Firstly, take very great care walking out into your garden, as paths and steps will be covered with ice and very slippery. Don’t go out unless you really need to, and only then when wrapped-up warm and wearing boots with the best grip possible.
Bird baths will be frozen solid, so if you can melt the ice and replenish with fresh water - do try to do this when topping up feeders.
Any tender plants still left outside will, or should I say won’t be alive now! Even those brought under cover and into an unheated greenhouse will probably have been frosted. That doesn’t mean they’re dead, but just that their tops will have been knocked back. Hopefully roots in fairly dry compost, and insulated from cold, will survive and start growing next spring when conditions warm-up.
My colleague Lucy on Gardeners' World magazine looked very fed-up last Friday after finding a promising crop of pak-choi in her greenhouse was flattened by frost. How disappointing. Sometimes a few layers of fleece thrown over pots and crops in the greenhouse is enough to keep off a few degrees of frost, but of no consolation to Lucy now the damage is done. Checking the max-min thermometer, the temperature in my own greenhouse fell to -4°C.
But look on the bright side! Deep and penetrating frost is just what you need on newly dug beds. Frost should kill overwintering pests, and also helps break down clay soils.
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