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How NOT to Protect Landscape Plants from Freeze

A Hard freeze is coming up Monday night and will effect Kansas City Landscaping plants for sure.  However, I wanted to help people see HOW to protect the plants.  When you put a cover over the plant it needs to go all the way down to the ground and preferably be staked to provide air flow around plants of 1 –2 inches.

The reason is, by covering the plant you are holding in latent heat from the ground and sheltering from the wind.

This person, who I came upon my walk yesterday, had NOT done that.  She did everything wrong.  First she used plastic – a terrible insulator and second she didn’t help the plant out at all because the air in the bag is going to be just as cold as the air outside of the bag.  To cover this plant well she should have places something over the plant that would have gone all the way to the ground.  This would have helped keep the temperature around the plant just a couple degrees warmer and protected it from the blast of cold air we received.

Excuse the poor picture please – it was taken with a camera phone while holding a three year old and being pulled by a dog in a 30 mph wind.

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Japanese Maple – ‘Emperor 1″

Japanese Maple Emperor 1

 

This is on of my favorite trees to plant in Kansas City.  ‘Emperor I’ is very similar to ‘Bloodgood’ in growth habit, although this tree has a lighter almost translucent quality to the leaves. It holds its red color well throughout the summer months, and has a brilliant crimson fall display. It grows to about a maximum of 15 feet tall and 7 feet wide.    This tree does very well in Kansas City landsapes.  it does best if protected from hot afternoon sun.