WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – As the cold weather is moving in, concerns are growing for people who already have plants out, or have sprinklers on already.
Eyewitness news spoke to a sprinkler contractor, Juan Hernandez, who says there’s some good news. Since the cold weather is not predicted to last long, you simply just need to cover your backflow preventer. Hernandez says it is not hard, you can simply cover it with a blanket then you can put a box over it. He says then you want to secure it with tape so that the wind doesn’t blow it off.
“Some of the people that have water inside for the irrigation they can just turn it off and just cover and make sure if there is a little water in there it doesn’t freeze up,” said Hernadez.
As far as plants, Sallie Strole, manager from Johnson’s Garden Center says it really depends on the plant. For example if you have planted tomatoes already, you will want to cover or bring them in. Same goes for any annual flowers, ones that go in the ground or in pots around your home for the summer.
To cover them, she said you can use a box or a trashcan upside down, but she warns do not use plastic because it gets colder and that will make it worse for the plants. However, Strole says believe it or not some trees can be helped out by a little extra water before the cold temperatures set in.
”Plants that you can’t cover like large trees or large shrubs. Make sure they are watered going into the evening because that is going to help them. Orchard people go out and spray their plants with water as it gets cold to just kind of form a little coating of ice to protect it a little,” said Strole.
Strole said you can also bring the plants closer to the house, by putting them on the porch or even in the garage to protect them.
Copyright 2021 KWCH. All rights reserved.