Steps people can take to protect their homes and plants for the first frost

This week we are anticipating the first frost of the season coming soon.

Joe Clemens, who works at Westlake Hardware Store in Columbia gave his advice on what people can do for the first frost.

“Insulating everything. So your plants,bring in what you can inside,cover what you can’t bring inside with plastic,” said Clemens.

He also recommends disconnecting outside faucets, covering plants with plastic or sheets and using floor and door insulation tape.

He said the first frost won’t freeze or burst pipes, but it’s never too soon to start planning ahead.

“The first ones not so damaging- once the ground gets cold and the ground starts to freeze then you gotta worry about your pipes,” Clemens said.

He said late October is when he sees people start coming in to get things like ice melt and scrapers.

Various items such as those will be sold out at certain points and Clemens said they have already had people come in to buy them this month.

He said plants like knock-out roses and mums will survive the frost, but if you can bring in the mums to do so.