Trim Back – Any elephant ears, bananas, or cannas that haven’t been burned down to the ground yet, chop short and mulch over them.
Water – Make sure your landscape isn’t going into the freeze dry. Run sprinklers and water as necessary in the forty-eight hours running up to the cold snap.
Turn Off Sprinklers! – It’s a Very Bad Idea to run sprinklers while it’s actively freezing. Turn the automatic system off, for now. Run sprinklers during the winter months only as needed.
Pull Flowering Containers Inside – Pansies and other cold weather plantings will survive a hard cold snap and ice. But a hard cold snap will knock them down a bit in smaller pots, and you don’t have to let that happen. Pull small containers inside the garage for the duration of the hard freeze. Set them back outside afterwards. Larger containers can be left alone, as long as they are not dry before the freeze hits.
Frost Cloth – Proper frost cloth will give somewhere between six to eight degrees of cold protection and prevent frost from hitting leaves directly. Makes a huge difference on tender plantings. When heavier snow and ice are expected, cover pansy beds as well to keep them perky.