Lawn and Garden
WINTER WOES
Winter has done a job on our landscapes and while the dead brown leaves on many shrubs are unsightly they still perform a function. Our last freeze generally occurs around February 25 so we still have several weeks where killing freezes could occur.
Dead foliage on shrubbery will help to trap radiant heat that is emitted from the ground on a cold night. This helps to warm the canopy of the plant reducing potential cold injury.
Just because the leaves of a plant were frozen it doesn’t mean the stems and buds were frozen and killed. To determine this, scrap the bark of the plant and if it is green underneath it is still alive. It will sprout new growth come spring. Many people will arbitrarily cut item all the way to the ground and this may not be necessary.
The more of a damaged plant that can be preserved usually the sooner it will come back into bloom. Last year my hibiscus did freeze to the ground and it was September until it started to flower again. This winter the leaves of the hibiscus are brown and the stems about 18 inches from the top is dead but it did not freeze to the ground. By cutting out only the affected potions of the plant I expect my hibiscus to come back into bloom more quickly this year.
If you jumped the gun and have already pruned damaged plant materials, make sure you give them some protection should we have a hard freeze. Plants that were cut back to the ground can be covered with mulch to try to trap in heat around them. Cloth or plastic covers are also an option. A plastic bag full of fallen leaves can also be set atop of a plant which has been cut down to the ground. It will insulate the plant from cold during a freezing night.
If you tend to add fresh mulch to your landscaped beds each spring, once you cut back cold damaged plants be ‘Florida Friendly’ by placing the trimmings in the bed and covering them with mulch. This way you recycle nutrients back to your plants and you eliminate plant material from the waste stream. You can also compost clippings to recycle their nutrients.
