The Second Part in Our Series Following the Effects of a Hard Freeze in December 2022
If you’re excited to see new blooms but also worried about landscape care after the flash freeze last December you’re not alone. This Spring brought with it some beautiful weather and lots of blooms! The new growth has been especially welcome this year with so much concern around possibly extensive damage from extreme winter weather. Now that we’re starting to see some new growth we have a bit of a better understanding for moving forward and some tips for making sure your landscape gets what it needs during this in between time.
Did the flash freeze doom your landscape?
So many plants are still showing extensive signs of damage despite the warmer temps we had so far this spring. If your plants are still bronzy, or lacking in leaves it can be disheartening! Even if it looks like your plants have completely succumbed to the elements there could still be hope. Many of them will flush back out soon thanks to the hardiness of the materials in our zone. Even so, some plants are proving that the freeze was too much for them. We’ve already started replacing some materials while we wait on some others.
Wait, Wait, Wait
Again the best thing you can do is to wait a little longer. Before pulling up and replacing materials try to have some patience! Some of the materials that suffered damage in December likely will not begin showing signs of recovery until late April and even May. So enjoy the new growth you are seeing and keep holding out hope. If you want to take a more proactive step towards understanding how your landscape is recuperating there are a few simple tests you can try. This article from UT Institute of Agriculture details doing a scratch test.
UT experts also say any concerns about whether a plant is still alive can be put to rest with a scratch test. Simply remove or scratch off a small section of bark on a few small stems or twigs to expose the cambium. Green tissue indicates a living stem. If the tissue is brown, then it is dead. Keep in mind that different plant tissues (leaves, buds and stems) on the same plant can vary in cold hardiness with roots being most sensitive to low temperatures. So, the impacts may differ due to plant tissue type, age and health as well as location due to drainage, snow cover, air flow and microclimates.
https://utianews.tennessee.edu/evaluating-your-lawn-and-landscape-after-the-recent-holiday-freeze/
If you find that the scratch test reveals a completely dead plant then you can make the decision to replace now or wait until you have a clear picture of your entire landscape. Replacing plants here and there can improve the look of your property gradually. Waiting until you know about all the plants in your landscape will allow you to make bigger changes if you’re looking to upgrade while having to replace materials.
Landscape Care for now
No one wants to wait months and months of the growing season to start enjoying their landscape. If you want to have a landscape worth envying you can always replace a few plants in highly visible areas. Replacing with the same plant or something similar will spruce up the space quickly. Another option is to add some seasonal statement areas. Planting for Summer flowers will commence in the next couple months. If you have a beautiful, unique display at the forefront of your property the flash freeze damage will be less likely to be noticed. Plant damage from the freeze is noticeable all over Middle TN so there’s nothing wrong with waiting it out and allowing the damaged plants to stay in your landscape until mid summer. If you want your landscape to stand out from all those around you call SCW Group to get it in perfect condition!
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