DENVER With an upcoming freeze expected for Colorado, the cold is threatening gardens after an unusually warm and dry winter."This has been a winter like no other winter," Judy Elliott, compost and garden education director for Denver Urban Gardens, said. WATCH: Elliott's tips for protecting your garden Tips for protecting plants during upcoming freezeBecause of how different this winter has been, many people may have already visited a local greenhouse to plant annuals."If people have gone and bought annual flowers from a greenhouse or a nursery, I think one of the best things that you can do is to realize that they are not hardy, unlike our perennial flowers that come back year after year," Elliott said.Elliott said despite a major temperature shift, the cold shouldn't have too much of an impact on the soil because of how dry it has been, but that adds greater stress for a vital part of a plant."One of the things that's happened in this really unusual season is that our soils are really warm, so it's the roots that we're most concerned about," Elliott said. "Because the soil is warm, the roots have really started to grow."To protect plants from freezing, the same logic applies to plants as people who need a warm blanket or sweatshirt. However, an actual blanket is not needed."If I wanted to make sure about protection, I just go and get some leaves and just cover this whole thing. Look, it's like a blanket," Elliott explained.Treating the soil properly is also important for plant survival."Roots that are well watered can withstand sudden freezes better because there's more moisture in the tissues," Elliott said.And when watering, it is important not to just go through the motions."Change your watering routine so that what you are doing is not doing this, 'Well, I got five minutes before work, and you go out and you water everything like this,' but actually bend down and water the soil so it absorbs deeply," Elliott outlined.Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Elliott suggests avoiding certain fan-favorite vegetables."You might want to think not planting things like corn that are so water intensive, that give you such a little harvest," Elliott said.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less