Denver gardeners try to protect plants as freeze approaches

The weather has been so nice lately, Coloradans have naturally gotten the itch to bring color and life back into their yards. For those who've gotten overzealous with planting already, there are several ways to save those plants during as an imminent freeze approaches.

Two-year-old Enzo and his mom Katerina Pietrafeso worked on a fun project a couple of days ago.

"We planted them as a little hobby together, and it was just so warm and beautiful," said Pietrafeso.

They got their hands dirty to make the backyard pretty with fruits and florals after she was inspired by gardeners on social media.

"I just got excited and picked the prettiest ones, and then I arranged all of these interesting pots and just put them all in," said Pietrafeso. "And so of course, when I checked the weather I saw that it's going to snow and have a hard freeze."

 Now, Katerina is worried her hard work and money will be wasted.

"I thought about getting all of my Tupperware from the kitchen and just putting Tupperwares with a rock on top over, so that's probably going to be my attempt at saving them," she said.

Karim Gharbi, a horticulture specialist with Colorado State University, said plants that are in the ground will be better off than ones that are in pots which remain outside during a hard freeze.

"Plants that are in pots are always more vulnerable to a freeze event than any other (including) plants that are in the ground, because the ground itself provides quite a bit of insulation," said Gharbi.

Gharbi adds that putting potted plants in the garage or covering them with another pot, bucket, bag, or burlap is a good idea. This works for plants in the ground as well. Or, there's another option.

"Pile up more mulch around that plant. That will provide a layer of insulation," said Gharbi.

But remember, not all plants are created equal.

"If you've installed perennials outside, they're much harder than we give them credit for, they will probably be fine through a frost," he added. "It's more of like your tender perennials and annuals, like flowering plants: your petunias, your marigolds, all those things."

According to Gharbi, for those who have watered their plants Thursday leading up to the freeze, the water can actually help the plants hold onto heat.