Beware the Major Springtime Garden Killers

It is understandable that after a long winter, gardeners are anxious to get their spring gardens in as soon as possible. This is a normal feeling. However, if the garden is planted too early, it can be a monumental endeavor that is destined to be repeated a few weeks later. Gardeners need to beware of the major springtime garden killers.

It should come as no surprise to gardeners in the temperate regions that we’re talking about the two biggest threats to an early spring garden; frost and snow.

Just because the weather has warmed up for even a couple of weeks doesn’t mean that frost or snow can’t happen. Either can easily destroy a garden, particularly when the tender seedlings are just coming up.

Long-range forecasts are exceptionally difficult to make for any given area for frost and snow. Once the crops start coming up, they are vulnerable. This includes most cold-weather crops. These plants can be covered and protected in the event of a frost or snow, but it can be a better idea to wait until the threat is no longer likely to happen.

Even this is difficult to do. Each area has records that are kept that show when the average last snowfall of the season is. The latest snowfall for areas is also usually recorded. There can be a wide variation between the two.

For example, the average last snowfall for Chicago, Illinois is March 31. The latest recorded snowfall on record is May 11. That is over a month and a half difference.

Even this might not be entirely accurate for a couple of reasons. First, some of this is extrapolated information. It is entirely possible to go out and see the ground covered with white and what looks like snow, while the temperatures are well above freezing. I would be likely that it would be written down as snow, but it might not be. Both hail and ice pellets, sometimes called ‘pellet snow’, can cover the ground in what appears to be snow, when it actually isn’t snow at all.

Second, it is possible to get enough light snow to cover the ground and to kill crops, yet for the snow to be in such a small amount that it registers as just a ‘trace’ of precipitation. Even this can wipe out freshly emerging seedlings.

If I relied solely on the records, it is likely that I’d be disappointed and frustrated. As an example, the average last snowfall in the spring in Missoula, Montana, is April 20. The latest ever recorded happened on June 11, 2008. While this can give me an idea of the window in which I can reasonably expect the last snow, I need to be careful not to make a strong assumption that this will be the case this year.

First of all, I live about 75 miles northwest of Missoula. Missoula tends to have greater weather extremes than we do. That is the reason our town is considered to be the “banana belt” of Montana. However, we’ve had later snows than June 11 and substantial snow a few days prior to June 11.

In 2014, just five years ago, many area gardeners were putting in their gardens during the last week in May. We’d had several weeks of warm weather, with overnight lows generally above 40 F. The ground had warmed up enough that it appeared safe to plant.

I didn’t plant anything, though it wasn’t because of weather knowledge or wisdom. I had no tiller, so I was hand-tilling the garden. Anyone who has tried this knows that it takes time and a lot of effort. By the first of June, I was only about halfway finished.

By the sixth of June, most people in our valley had seedlings coming up in their gardens very nicely; most of the plants at least an inch tall. I still hadn’t planted anything and I figured that it would take at least three or four days before I could plant.

On the night of June 7, the unthinkable (to many people) happened. A fast-moving system of cold air went through our valley, which was filled with warm, moist air. I woke on June 8 to find several inches of snow covering everything. No additional snow fell, at least not in measurable amounts, but it took a couple of days for the temperatures to warm up again and for the snow to melt.

By then, most of the gardens in the area had been destroyed. Mine wasn’t, only because I hadn’t yet been able to plant.

As a result, I had a very robust garden growing when other gardeners were just beginning to get their replanted crops to the 1-inch seedling stage.

That was snow. Frost can be as damaging and it is even harder to predict, except in the short-term. The point is that it is usually worthwhile to wait a week or two before planting if there is any doubt at all whether there will be snow or a heavy frost. You’ll end up saving a great deal of time and effort.

When all was said and done, my garden was 3-5 weeks advanced of the gardens that had initially been planted 2-3 weeks before mine was. I wish I could take credit for the foresight, but can’t. I’m thankful that the circumstances prevented me from planting earlier. I wanted to get a garden in just as much as everyone else and I complained because I couldn’t. Sometimes adversity has a far better result than could have been achieved without it.

Snow and frost a major killers of early spring gardens. It is in your best interest if you are going to be planting a garden, for you to know when the average last snowfall and latest snowfall recorded was for your area. However, even with that information, don’t assume that any given year is going to conform to those numbers.

One last note. There is a mountain north of our town and visible from here that is called Mount Baldy. The old-time gardeners in this area have a saying, “Don’t plant until the snow is off of [Mount] Baldy.” This tends to be more accurate than the records for the area. Indeed, in 2014, there was still a little snow on Baldy when people were putting in their gardens.