Did the winter weather kill my plants?
Everyone around Garland County would agree that the February winter storm was historic. We dealt with record-low temperatures, high amounts of snowfall, and many consecutive hours below freezing. Those that have wished for years to have a good snowfall and cold temperatures definitely had that wish fulfilled. Now, we are starting to see the effects that the weather had on our plants. In our area, it is easy to notice the “burned” appearance on many of our ornamental shrubs.
Garland County is situated in Plant Hardiness Zone 7B, which means our average annual minimum winter temperature is 5 to 10 degrees. There are some plants that are very popular in this area that are actually better suited for Zone 8 (average minimum temperature of 10 to 20 degrees), but typically do well for us. Some of these plants are Indian hawthorn, loropetalum, gardenia, evergreen azaleas, crape myrtles, and Japanese Aucuba. With these plants that are broadleaf evergreens, we are seeing leaves that appear fine that are low down and leaves that are heavily affected higher up on the plant. It is entirely possible for some plants that the higher limbs have died while the root system is still alive.
The silver lining in this historic event is that most plants were still in full dormancy. If this had happened a few weeks later, the extent of the damage would be much worse. Even though we are seeing “burned” foliage on evergreen plants, the full extent may be hidden and we won’t know for another four to six weeks the full extent of what has happened. For small plants, we can scratch twigs to check for green but that is not feasible for full-grown trees like a live oak. Also, the damage may still be in progress. Once plants start flushing out in a few weeks, we will get a clearer picture of the damage. People just need to be patient at this time and wait until we get that clearer picture.
Did the big snowfall help the situation? The answer is yes, because snow is an excellent insulator. That is a big reason why we are seeing green on the bottom of evergreen shrubs, but not higher up where there was no protection. Ground cover plants that are tender were also protected from the bitter cold.
In summary, the February winter storm will clearly result in significant damage to fruit and ornamental plants. Gardeners need to be patient for the final extent of the damage to be known. Don’t rush to address this problem now but re-evaluate your plants around the end of April. At that time, we will have a clearer picture of the extent of the damage and then we can decide where to prune or whether some plants need to be replaced.
For more information, contact the Garland County Extension Office at 623-6841, email Alex at adykes@uada.edu, or visit our website at http://www.uaex.edu. The Garland County Extension Office is located at 236 Woodbine in Hot Springs and the office hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
4-H information
There are several 4-H Clubs for Garland county youths who are 5 to
19 years old. For more information on all the fun 4-H activities that are available for youths, call Carol Ann McAfee at the Extension office,
623-6841, or email her at cmafee@ uaex.edu.
Master Gardener information
Master Gardener meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month online. The meetings are open to the public and guests are welcome. For more information, call the Extension office at 623-6841 or email Alex Dykes at adykes@ uaex.edu.
EHC information
Are you interested in joining an existing Extension Homemakers Club? EHC is the largest volunteer organization in the state. For information on EHC, call Alison Crane, family and consumer sciences agent, at 623-6841 or email her at acrane@uaex.edu.