To muffle the effects of low temperatures:
-Protect sensitive trunks (citrus trees, jasmin, jacaranda) with straw mats.
-Dig into the soil and add organic material.
-Add pieces of wood to ponds.
-Bring potted plants under cover to protect them from the first frost: camellia, kumquats or orange trees, for example.
-Bring cactus, crassas and aquatic plants into the greenhouse or the home.

To protect against the wind:�
Build screens, allowing a meter of distance between it and the thing being protected; the screens can be living things such as cypress or leilandii, or made of wood, wattle or bamboo. Winter winds can freeze stems, tips or even ligneous branches.

Watering and fertiliser:
Space out watering as temperatures fall, and suspend them when the rains come. After the first frost, do some watering at midday to restore moisture that this freezing extracts from the sub-soil.
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It is a good idea to strengthen plants, especially the roots. So use fertiliser rich in potassium and later, an organic-mineral compound.

Phytosanitary treatment:
Before they start losing leaves, plants with pests or fungi should be treated. Removing dead leaves from the ground is essential to avoid creating layers that cultivate or shelter pathogenic agents. If the disease or pest persists, apply treatment with winter oil. If the cause is a fungus like phytophthora, disinfect the soil of the plant as well.

Precautions:
With the risk of snow you must avoid branches getting torn off. For shrubs that are pruned in the middle of winter, such as rose bushes, it is best to do a pre-pruning. In other words, eliminate a third of the longest and weakest branches. They would not stand up in a heavy snowfall.

Empty the irrigation pipes and protect the timer and electrovalves with bubble wrap. Store the hose in a protected place.

Planting:
This is a good time to plant because in autumn and winter the plant will develop a good root system for the spring.

It is also a good season for transplanting and, above all, planting bulbs that bloom in spring: freesia, ranunculus, narcissus, Lily of the Valley, tulips or paonia, for example.

Lawns:
Lawns also vegetate in winter, so you will have to tasks to do before the season starts: scarify, aireate, fertilise and seed. This is a good way to let the lawn sleep until the good weather arrives.

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