How Can I Protect Plants From Injuries?

Do you wish to protect plants from mechanical injuries?

Do you wish to protect plants from damage done by improper pruning?

Do you wish to protect your plants from weather-related damage?

Do you wish to protect plants from frost damage?

Do you wish to protect plants from sunburn damage?

Do you wish to protect plants from injuries done by chemical use?

There are no general rules for protecting plants during pruning. The best thing you can do is avoiding damage by maintaining good pruning practice. Keep pruning tools always sharp and well-cleaned, and make clear clean cuts. Prune only when you need to maintain your plants' health, improve the quality of foliage and stems, restrict growth, and train a plant.

You can protect plants like trees from lawnmowers by removing any grass growing on the ground around the tree trunk by scraping off the blades and roots with a shovel. By placing organic mulch around the base of the tree far enough away you will protect exposed roots from the lawnmower. You can also install a tree guard around the tree trunk if you prefer not to mulch. Select a guard large enough to allow the trunk to expand as it grows.

Bedsheets, drop cloths, blankets and plastic sheets make suitable covers for vulnerable plants. Use stakes to keep material, especially plastic, from touching the foliage. Remove the coverings when temperatures rise above freezing. For a short cold period, low plantings can be covered with mulch, such as straw or leaf mold. Remove once the danger of frost has passed. Place a 100-watt lamp designed for outdoor use in the interior of a small tree. It can emit enough warmth to reduce frost damage. Cluster container plants close together and, if possible, in a sheltered spot close to the house.

Slower acclimation to bright sun, known as hardening off, is vital to promoting sun-resistant leaf development and preventing plant sunburn damage. For plants already suffering, use a sunshade to restrict their exposure to UV light. Slowly give them more time each day with the sunshade removed until they are toughened up. This process can take about two weeks, at which time your plant should be ready for the sun.

To protect plants from hail storms, add extra soil around the bases of plants to keep them upright and prevent the soil from washing away. Place pots, buckets, baskets, or large garbage cans over plants to protect them from hail. Cover plants that are growing along a fence or building with a piece of cardboard, wood, fiberglass, or other flat material. Place some stakes in the soil that reach above the highest plant. Cover the entire area with a large tarp or plastic sheet. Weigh down the corners with bricks or other heavy objects.

Best way of protecting plants or avoiding damage from injuries done by herbicides is following the application instructions and manufacturers label to the letter. Don't spray outdoors on windy or rainy days. Take precautions to keep the pesticide from drifting or running off into the vegetable garden, pool, or neighbor's yard.

You can protect your plants from pests by cleaning debris around your plants as such places are often sites for insects to overwinter. Attracting beneficial insects to your garden will give some control of insect pests. By inter-planting different vegetable crops with each other – and with flowering herbs and annuals – pests may have a more difficult time locating their host plants. One of the most useful methods of preventing pests in your garden is to put a physical barrier between the plant and the insect. Cover pest-susceptible plants with floating row cover, a lightweight, spun-bound fabric that rests on top of the plants on wire hoops.