Have you checked the weather lately?  I check the weather from multiple sources regularly and they all now predict that the coldest temps of the season will occur next week!  Long range forecasts previously had shown a warming trend into spring after this current round of cold, but some forecasts for my area in NC show -2!!!   What should I do for young in ground trees?  The current plan is buying a lot of mulch and hope for the best....

That's some Northern style cold, eh? Try burlap and fiberglass insulation wrapped around young trees with twine. Older trees-get ready for dieback. They will survive.

The problem is that almost all of my trees are still babies. My oldest is only four years old. Good thing I have rooted several extras this year. Where is global warning when you need it?

Sorry it is the middle of February, You can't use the excuse that winter snuck up on you...LOL

At this point if the figs are not tucked in nice and snuggly then che sara, sara.

Don't know what zone you are in but around here tonight they are calling for  -30C and very windy conditions.  brrr

I really am such a weather denier/optimist that I always try to fool myself into believing that we will have a mild winter. And -2 is probably like a 50 year record low in this area. Can you imagine a south Floridian getting down to 20 degrees? Basically if this report is true then half of my garden will die.

Especially after cold we had last year.

Once you have them covered in mulch drag out your christmas lights or borrow your friends'.  Put down the lights, cover with a blanket, then a plastic tarp.  Use rocks to keep them down.  Try to prevent the lights from igniting the blanket.  Do it as soon as you can to warm up the ground a bit.

If you have rope lights you can bury them in the mulch and it will work even better.  Still use the blanket and plastic.

Good luck!

Yes, I'm now convinced that, in terms of brutal cold that damages plants, this winter is going to be as bad as last year or possibly worse.  We are supposed to have a low tonight of around 5 degrees with a lot of wind - not good.  It will be a bit worse tomorrow (low of 2 deg) and won't be much better until at least Friday.  On the plus side we have about 2 inches of snow on the ground which will act as an insulator.  Nevertheless, I'll be sawing off a lot of dead wood in the Spring.

Brian, if you have any snow on the ground you can shovel a pile on your small trees.

Hi Yeehova,
Playing the cicada ? asked an ant .
Search my post on winter protection , "the 80 liters trashcan technique" .
If you have big buckets, throw them over the smaller trees. Filling the buckets with compost will help.
Most of my trees are in a trashcan till the end of February .
Here the winter as been milder, down to -10°C was the worst until now. Are you speaking of -2°F ? or -2 °C ?

I picked the worst forecast, with the best showing that we will be 11°F next Wednesday night. 11° is still very low, but manageble, and -2°F seems unheard of around here. I am going to go with a plastic and mulch solution. I thought we were out of the woods since the forsythia is already blooming.

This is the coldest February that I can remember and the 10 day forecast is for more of the same...ouch
I hope that my covered in-ground figs are OK.  They are certainly in a deep sleep and there is a nice 2' covering of snow on them.

jdsfrance, can you provide a link for your post on the trash can technique?  I tried searching for it but couldn't find it.  Thanks. 

Hi,
Here it is:
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/winter-protection-6910093?highlight=winter+protection&pid=1284196249#post1284196249