Be particularly careful with the plastic film even in the winter the sun will overheat your plants if there is not a way for the heat to escape.

I've learned a valuable trick from a palm specialist in Ocala. Use the canopy of the heaviest oak you have for protection.

I've managed to save my flamethrower palm, figs, dwarf citrus and pecans by hauling them (young, in palm pots) to the base of my live oaks.

I NEVER prune my oaks before winter. The density keeps the cold from settling on the plants. I'm even going to take a chance on one of my banana tree offshoots (about 4' tall now) and leave it uncovered (except I DO wrap the pots in burlap to protect the roots) as close to the base of my live oak with the heaviest canopy.

I have to make sacrifices, so I decided grass wasn't as important as saving my half grown plants, so I let one oak get so thick that light doesn't touch the ground under it! Looks like the dickens, but hey, still have that flamethrower!.

Next year, the plants should be hardy enough to take SOME cold, so I'll prune out the oak in the early spring and set sod again (it's in my kennel yard, clients appreciate grass instead of sand...dogs prefer sand, better hole digging!)

I don't know if anyone else uses natural protection, but I'm curious...anyone else?

My persian lime is on the southside of my house and I double layered freeze cloth on the coldest nights with christmas lights on it. I would be leary of plastic, also. I used a plastic greenhouse for veggies last winter, and as soon as the sun hit it, it would go up to 120 if I didn't open the door. Deannac, I live in what use to be the Fern Capitol of the World, most of the growers use the old oaks for shade and winter protection.

Okay, I'll nix the plastic part of it then. I was looking at the Home Despot site last night and saw a 3-pack of burlap tree sacks. The size was big enough that if I make the pvc-cage it will sit on the top rail and drape to the ground. So I should be able to use those and keep them rolled up on the south side during the days and drop it down on the colder nights. This would allow the sun to directly warm the palm as well as the inside of the northern layer of the bag.

I don't have any live oaks in my yard... or any trees at all except the citrus. There is one in my southern neighbor's yard and the branches overhang my lanai (actually rubbing it currently... they said they would trim it up but haven't yet). To the west of me is a landscaper's yard and he has about 6-7 live oaks planted near the fence line as well as some Red Cedars. They won't cut the wind completely, but they will cut it some, I hope.

I also learned about mounding on UF's website last night and I'm going to do that with my persian lime and meyer lemon. The key lime actually got hit by the last frost of last year and died to about 4" of trunk, above the graft union, but it came back and is almost bigger than the persian lime now. The tangerine's trunk is just too tall to adequately mound. Since my roebellinis barely have any trunk to them I was thinking of maybe trying mounding with them, but don't know if it will make much difference with palms. I'll pop onto the Palms forum later and pose the question to them.

Hi
Something I've found very effective is a product called "Frost cloth" Comes in various densities as well as a form that provides chemical heat. Have not tried the later . usually cold fronts last 3 days and this stuff can be left in place without overheating For my "orchid garden" I use it along with a themostat controlled lightless IR heater . i keep that area above 50
DON"T use plastic . I made that mistake on my shadehouse. Worked great during the night but when the sun
came up it got to 150 inside lol. Lost everything from heat instead of cold lol gary