 |  |  |
What to do about our frozen landscape? Maybe you fared better, but my yard is brown and withered and desolate. My mature holly trees are sticks, with prickly leaves strewn under them. It looks like an errant flower girl dumped her basket in one place. And it was a big basket.
Two of my little gem magnolias look completely dried up and dead; one is perfectly green and supple. They are all in a row, side by side, so what’s up with that?
My swath of Lenten roses, the ones that came from my mother-in-law’s home, the home my husband and his siblings grew up in, are all deceased. They lie prone in the freezer-burned bed, along with the twigs of what used to be evergreen azaleas. All of my Otto Luyken laurel is toast, its dead leaves cluttering the ground.
My rhododendron looks good, and surely my ancient oak trees are okay. Surprisingly, my hydrangeas look like they are supposed to at this time of year. But I don’t know what to do about everything else. Do I cut it all back while it’s dormant? Do I fertilize? Do I do anything besides wring my hands?
Actually, I knew exactly what to do. I called Ann Brown, gardener extraordinaire, who has spoken to the Garden Club of Signal Mountain. I happen to have her on speed dial on my phone.
The mountains around Chattanooga are in Zone 6b, so plants that are from warmer zones may suffer or die, especially if they are specified for Zone 8. Looking on the bright side, Ann says that the good thing about the timing of the freeze is that it came after a heavy rain, so our plants were well hydrated. Dehydrated plants can be severely damaged or die during severe freezes. Also, plants not protected from the wind can be damaged regardless of hydration. (I wonder if my one green magnolia somehow escaped the wind.)
To prevent damage in the future, Ann recommends mulching all your plants with compost and raking leaves around everything you want to come back in the spring, including perennials, shrubs and small trees.
“This is a natural way to protect and insulate roots from the varying temperatures we get in the winter. This layer of leaves also provides a place for insects (bumble bees, butterflies, moths) to complete their life cycles, and these insects serve as winter food for our birds,” Ann says.
Ann, a member of Tennessee Valley Wild Ones and on the board of Bee City USA, tells us to be patient with our plants.
“My advice for shrubs, ‘wait and see.’ If the stems are green in March and April, they will slowly leaf out. Prune any dead (brown) stems down to where it is green in May and June. Perennials, especially native plants that are deep rooted, will return with no problem,” Ann promises.
Renowned for her gorgeous garden teaming with flowering native plants, Ann advises cutting Miss Huff lantana to the ground. This pollinator should return by June, and wait until then before calling its time of death.
She advises waiting until spring, when the plant should be leafing out, to prune any small trees or shrubs.
About my poor Lenten roses, she believes they should survive, no matter how pitiful they look.
“Lenten roses are able to withstand temperatures down to minus 20 degrees. Remove old, scorched, damaged, or dead leaves from the plant before the plant is in bloom (usually late winter to early spring). After blooming has finished, cut back flowering stems to the base to encourage new foliage growth,” Ann says.
Okay, fine. I’ll use the excuse of being patient for my laziness in addressing this desolate dead-looking yard of mine.
by Ferris Robinson
Two of my little gem magnolias look completely dried up and dead; one is perfectly green and supple. They are all in a row, side by side, so what’s up with that?
My swath of Lenten roses, the ones that came from my mother-in-law’s home, the home my husband and his siblings grew up in, are all deceased. They lie prone in the freezer-burned bed, along with the twigs of what used to be evergreen azaleas. All of my Otto Luyken laurel is toast, its dead leaves cluttering the ground.
My rhododendron looks good, and surely my ancient oak trees are okay. Surprisingly, my hydrangeas look like they are supposed to at this time of year. But I don’t know what to do about everything else. Do I cut it all back while it’s dormant? Do I fertilize? Do I do anything besides wring my hands?
Actually, I knew exactly what to do. I called Ann Brown, gardener extraordinaire, who has spoken to the Garden Club of Signal Mountain. I happen to have her on speed dial on my phone.
The mountains around Chattanooga are in Zone 6b, so plants that are from warmer zones may suffer or die, especially if they are specified for Zone 8. Looking on the bright side, Ann says that the good thing about the timing of the freeze is that it came after a heavy rain, so our plants were well hydrated. Dehydrated plants can be severely damaged or die during severe freezes. Also, plants not protected from the wind can be damaged regardless of hydration. (I wonder if my one green magnolia somehow escaped the wind.)
To prevent damage in the future, Ann recommends mulching all your plants with compost and raking leaves around everything you want to come back in the spring, including perennials, shrubs and small trees.
“This is a natural way to protect and insulate roots from the varying temperatures we get in the winter. This layer of leaves also provides a place for insects (bumble bees, butterflies, moths) to complete their life cycles, and these insects serve as winter food for our birds,” Ann says.
Ann, a member of Tennessee Valley Wild Ones and on the board of Bee City USA, tells us to be patient with our plants.
“My advice for shrubs, ‘wait and see.’ If the stems are green in March and April, they will slowly leaf out. Prune any dead (brown) stems down to where it is green in May and June. Perennials, especially native plants that are deep rooted, will return with no problem,” Ann promises.
Renowned for her gorgeous garden teaming with flowering native plants, Ann advises cutting Miss Huff lantana to the ground. This pollinator should return by June, and wait until then before calling its time of death.
She advises waiting until spring, when the plant should be leafing out, to prune any small trees or shrubs.
About my poor Lenten roses, she believes they should survive, no matter how pitiful they look.
“Lenten roses are able to withstand temperatures down to minus 20 degrees. Remove old, scorched, damaged, or dead leaves from the plant before the plant is in bloom (usually late winter to early spring). After blooming has finished, cut back flowering stems to the base to encourage new foliage growth,” Ann says.
Okay, fine. I’ll use the excuse of being patient for my laziness in addressing this desolate dead-looking yard of mine.
by Ferris Robinson
RSS Feed