With fall-like weather hanging around this week, conditions in the evening are favourable for frost.
Leslie Cornell, owner of Cornell Design and Landscaping, urges gardeners to act quickly: “Cover your tender vegetables (in the evening and overnight) because there’s still a lot of good growing time. Our ground is warm. We want to protect things that aren’t accustomed to freezing temperatures.”
Tomatoes are especially vulnerable. “You do have to cover them or pick them. If you pick your tomatoes green, they will do just fine… they’ll all ripen up and be just as good as if they ripen on the vine. Well, almost.”
Other crops like pumpkins, potatoes, corn, and beets are more resilient. “The pumpkins themselves will be fine. The foliage will likely be damaged. Potato tops—it really doesn’t matter if they get damaged by frost… the potatoes are going to be fine.”
If gardeners decide to pull out their garden altogether to avoid frost damage, Cornell recommends leaving leaf litter in the garden as it falls this autumn season. This will allow for a garden to have good conditions to start the new growing season in 2026 and give a place for friendly bugs to hide during the winter.
“It’s really not a bad thing to keep that leaf litter on the garden to hold moisture… The more leaves and lumps and bumps in a garden plot over the winter will hold the moisture, catch snow, and kind of give you a step up for spring.”
In conclusion, protect the tender things so you can enjoy them longer, as gardeners keep their fingers crossed for a nice fall season.