With a massive winter storm expected to affect much of the state early next week, the LSU AgCenter has tips to protect your home and plants.
For your home, the LaHouse Research and Education Center shares practical advice to help homeowners protect their property and ensure safety during extreme cold.
“These simple steps can help avoid costly repairs and dangerous situations,” said Carol Friedland, LaHouse director.
Home
Prevent frozen pipes
Running just one faucet with a small trickle of water when temperatures drop below freezing can prevent water from freezing in your pipes. The faucets farthest from your water source will make this more effective.
Protect outdoor faucets
Use fiberglass or foam sleeves to wrap outdoor faucets and secure them with tape or foil to keep them insulated. If specialized materials aren’t available, household items like old newspapers, rags or even towels can serve as effective alternatives.
Heat safely
Never use a gas stove or oven to heat your home. Not only is this ineffective, but it can also create a fire and fume hazard. Instead, rely on space heaters, but keep these away from flammable fixtures like curtains.
Power outages
If you lose power, stay in the interior parts of your home to retain heat. When using a generator for temporary power, ensure it is placed outdoors, at least 20 feet away from windows, doors or vents. Never operate one indoors, in a garage or under a carport due to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Additional home precautions to consider
Seal drafts
Check for drafts around doors and windows and seal them with weatherstripping, caulk or rolled-up towels to keep cold air out and warm air in.
Emergency supplies
Prepare an emergency kit with essentials such as blankets, batteries, flashlights, bottled water and a portable phone charger.
Maintain safe heating practices
Always turn portable heaters or other similar products off when leaving the room or going to bed.
Plants
Ouachita Parish associate extension agent Kerry Heafner has some tips for keeping your plants and tender vegetation safe when things get frigid.
“The impacts of winter events like this are tough to predict, but it is a good reminder why it’s important to focus on plants that are hardy in our respective areas,” Heafner said. “Northern Louisiana is USDA hardiness zone, zone 8b. This means plants that are hardy in our zone will be fine if temperatures dip into the low twenties to mid-teens.”
Heafner went on to say that woody perennials like azaleas, camellias, gardenias, hollies, boxwoods and plants like that should all be fine with no protection because they’re hardy in north Louisiana.
“Certainly, woody natives like oaks, maples, dogwoods among others will be fine as they’re adapted to this climate which does include periods of winter weather like we’re going to see,” he said. “With the exception of citrus, even fruit trees will be fine and even benefit from the cold by accumulating chill hours.”
Finally, Heafner said that some annuals like pansies and violas will be fine for the most part. Plants that are not hardy in zone 8b or do not tolerate extreme cold such as tender perennials, citrus and other tropicals, and other annuals will need some type of protection.
Bring container plants inside
If you must leave your container plants outside, try grouping them against a wall of your house, preferably one that faces south. Water them and cover them thoroughly.
Protect outdoor plants
Replenish the mulch layer if needed, making sure it is 2 to 4 inches thick. Mulch insulates plant roots.
Tender shrubs, bedding plants and citrus trees should be covered. AgCenter horticulture agent Jason Stagg recommends draping these plants with breathable options such as frost cloth, which is his preference, and old sheets.
Available at most garden centers, frost cloth allows some sunlight to reach the plants underneath and is available in different thicknesses that can moderate temperatures by 4 F to 10 F. It can be left on plants for a few days until freezing weather has passed.
Tips for covering plants
Where possible, drive a few stakes into the ground around plants to set up a temporary structure to keep covering materials off the foliage of plants. By draping materials over the stakes instead of placing them directly on plants, you can prevent branch breakage. This is an especially important step if you decide to use heavier items such as old quilts and blankets to protect your plants.
With any type of cover, make certain that it goes all the way to the ground and extends outward as wide as possible.
To seal in warmth, you can set heavy objects like bricks and firewood on top of the cover where it meets the ground.
All of the material should be removed as soon as temperatures moderate.
