Spring has arrived! Often a bittersweet day for gardeners. While we eagerly await the first calender day of Spring and look for Natures first signs thereof all too often there is also the heartache of finding damage from a rough Winter. But what is really damaged? The typical Spring calls of concern have already started. Yesterday a lady called about her mature rhododendron. Her plant is over six feet tall and bloomed beautifully last year. Now its covered with furled, brown, dried-up leaves. While I cant say for sure what the culprit is; virus, bacteria, fungus or simply Winter burn I can say with certainty that her rhododendron is in real trouble and if outside of damage due to Winter it is quite possibly dead. I suggested she live with the unsightly plant for the time being and see if new growth emerges later in the season. Rhododendron will bud from the stems and can grow back to a fine landscape addition in one season but one must wait for the process. My boxwoods are orange! The same caller with the rhododendron expressed concern over mature boxwood in her yard (she moved to this area late last Spring). Many plants have foliage with Winter coloring that differs dramatically from Spring and Summer. Hues of purple, maroon, brown, orange and red are often displayed on leafy and needled evergreens. For the seasoned gardener these colors can add Winter interest but can cause concern for the neophyte. In the case of the caller with orange boxwoods I was able to determine from her description that her plants were Korean boxwood or possibly a cultivar thereof. Those plants will be fine and will turn a bright green again as the season progresses. If the color of your plants is causing concern Id suggest squeezing some of the leaves. Are they pliable or are they dried and breaking? Pliable but colored leaves are most likely healthy and will green up as temperatures and light levels increase. If the leaves are crumbling (and usually tan to brown) they have become desiccated for some reason; usually drying winds and/or snow reflection over a tough Winter like the one weve just experienced. Depending on the percentage of damaged leaves the plant may need nothing to simple pruning or it may require replacing. Long standing heavy snow-pack covering evergreen plants can also introduce various fungal types of issues which will start to become evident now. Pruning and spraying can sometimes save these plants but it may require an on site inspection from a professional to determine the best course of action. Flattened shrubs and broken branches. Heavy snow often flattens shrubs. It is likely that the plant will return to shape on its own but if its too unsightly or has broken branches a good pruning may be in order. Its okay to go ahead and remove those broken branches now and if you want to give a general shape pruning now that would be okay too. Its also okay to wait and see what the plant does on its own or wait to prune until after the plant has flowered. It is your call and okay to base the decision on aesthetics. Rodent, deer or other animal damage. Deer will often graze on prized landscapes especially so during a harsh Winter. More often than not these plants will survive and sprout new growth but will be misshapen. Give the plants a chance to recover and sprout some growth and then begin pruning to shape to your like. Rodent, mice especially, damage can appear to be minimal but turn out to be devastating. Another call I fielded recently was about damage to fruit trees. Precautions were taken, plastic covers were in place on the trunks but the mice still got in and chewed the bark from the base of the trees thus girdling the trunk. This was done to various degrees. Trees with little to moderate damage will likely survive but if the damage circles most or all of the trunk the tree is likely already gone. For trees with survivable damage I recommend improving overall plant health with products such as our Blue Marble plant health products and then wait and see. The old practice of covering over scars with paint or tar products is no longer recommended as houses for insects can often be created. Its been decided that the best practice is to carefully remove any loose bark and let the plant heal over the wound on its own.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 13:48:14 +0000
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