As southern Manitoba continues to experience unseasonably mild weather, a local lawn and garden expert says not to worry, the vegetation on your yard will be just fine.

The question has been asked whether this stretch of day after day with temperatures above the freezing mark is enough to bring lawns and plants out of dormancy. Duayne Friesen says unless we get many consecutive days where the temperature does not drop below freezing, there is no need to panic.

"We're still getting cold enough temperatures at night that the ground will freeze and the sun is weak," explains Friesen. "It's not really warming up the ground so the ground is staying frozen."

Friesen says the sun is at its weakest level right now.

"You're not really noticing evergreens starting to thaw out and brown," he adds. "It's not really an issue at all for the plants."

Having said that, Friesen says what does concern him is the lack of snow. If the temperature would suddenly plummet to -20, Friesen says we do not have that insulator to prevent the frost from penetrating very deep.

"If we get some really cold temperatures without more snow falling on the ground, that will have more issues for some plants that are less hardy," he says.

Meanwhile, Friesen says a cold winter won't control diseases but it can kill off insects.