How to Protect Your Fruit Trees From Late Frosts
Spring can bring unpredictable weather, with late frosts potentially destroying this year’s fruit crop. Thankfully, garden expert Logan Hailey has 6 helpful ways to protect your fruit trees from late frosts.
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Just when you think winter is finally over, an unexpected late spring frost can catch you and your fruit trees by surprise. If flower buds have already started developing and opening, it is crucial to protect them from freezing temperatures, otherwise you may see huge yield reductions, or lose this year’s crop altogether.
Apples, cherries, pears, peaches, and apricots are just a few of the fruit trees that are most vulnerable to frigid weather in the spring. While most of these species are frost-tolerant while dormant, their blooms cannot handle the cold. The critical temperautre for most floral buds is around 28-30°F. Once buds and blossoms are developing or open, a freeze can threaten your ability to harvest fruit later in the season. No flowers means no fruit, so be sure to take action as soon as you see a dip in the forecast.
Let’s dig into six easy ways to protect those fruit tree blooms safe from a late spring frost.
Are Late Frosts Bad for Fruit Trees?
Late frosts threaten fruit trees because they can damage or kill developing flower buds and blossoms. Blooms must be open in order to get pollinated and form fruits later in the season. Therefore, frost damage to an orchard can lead to major yield losses. Protection measures allow you to keep warm air around the fragile buds to prevent them from dying in temperatures below 32°F (0°C).
6 Ways to Protect Fruit Trees From Late Frosts
If temperatures below 34°F (1°C) are in the forecast, it’s time to employ protective measures to keep your spring orchard cozy and safe from damage.
Cover with Frost Cloth or Burlap
This method is ideal for smaller saplings and low-pruned specimens. Covering them in cloth or burlap adds a physical insulation barrier to prevent frozen plant tissues.
However, the cover typically requires stakes or a metal wrap-around cage to support the fabric and prevent it from sticking onto fragile buds and blooms. Be sure that the material goes all the way to the ground so cold air can’t creep in from underneath.
Frost cloth is a type of partially-translucent row cover made specifically for trees. You can also use floating row fabric from your vegetable garden as long as it is large enough to wrap around the trunk and extend to the soil level. Secure to the wire cage or stakes with pins, clips, or clothespins so wind won’t blow it away.
The protection is best left on only at night, but translucent frost covers do allow sunlight in if temperatures remain low for several days. In contrast, if you choose to wrap with burlap, the tree won’t be able to photosynthesize underneath it. You must remove burlap coverings each morning and replace them in the evening if frigid weather is in the forecast.
Turn On the Sprinklers
Larger specimens are difficult or impossible to wrap. This is where a clever old-time farmer trick comes into play—ice warfare! You can fight ice with ice by turning on the sprinklers and encasing your trees in a layer of protective ice before the frigid night begins. Though this may seem counterintuitive, it actually insulates the tissues and shields delicate blossoms from cellular frost damage.
A consistent supply of overhead irrigation also adds another advantage—slow thaw. Some growers keep water consistently sprinkling to prevent the rapid thawing that causes major damage. Consistent sprinkler water from your well or city water supply will ensure that the specimens remain wet and above freezing temperatures.
Add Deep Mulch
Deep mulching is typically employed in the fall to protect dormant plants over the winter. A dense layer of wood chips or leaves acts like insulation for the root zone. In the spring, you may notice that the mulch has decomposed significantly, or you might have raked it aside.
If an unexpected late frost lingers on the horizon, it’s best to rake more deep mulch back over the root zones of your fruit trees. This won’t protect the buds or blooms from damage, but it will add extra insulation for the roots.
Prioritize Young Trees and Flowering Specimens
In a large garden or orchard, it can be difficult to know where to start with frost protection. I recommend prioritizing frost protection for young saplings and flowering fruit trees first. If a tree is still dormant (i.e. no leaves, buds, or flowers), then it is likely safe from the late spring frost. But if there are visible buds or blooms, you absolutely need to cover or wet them to ensure that you can enjoy sweet yields later in the season.
Avoid Pruning
It’s important to remember that pruning in late spring is usually a bad idea, especially if frost is on the horizon. For most species, the best time to prune an orchard is in late winter while the plants are still dormant. If your trees are already “waking up” with buds and blooms, pruning can cause more harm than good. A late frost won’t only wipe out the fragile developing flowers, but it could damage or kill entire branches.
Choose Late-Flowering Varieties
If late frosts seem to be a springtime regular, it may be best to gradually replace your favorite fruit trees with late-flowering varieties to protect from yield loss. Certain cultivars produce flowers later in the season, which means they are more likely to retain their blossoms into the summer.
Late-blooming cultivars are especially important for apples, peaches, apricots, pears, plums, cherries, and tender subtropical species like pomegranate. Some are even more cold-tolerant. If a tree produces flowers later in the season, it is more likely to make it past the period of late spring frost risk. Many are also more disease-resistant.
A few fan-favorites include:
- ‘Ambrosia’ apples
- ‘Contender’ peach
- ‘Starking Delicious’ pear
- European plum varieties
- ‘North Star’ cherries
- ‘Russian Red’ and ‘Texas Pink’ pomegranates/
While later blooms may mean later harvests, the tree will likely be higher yielding because most or all of its blossoms will survive past pollination.
