Help your plants grow back after devastation from snow and ice
Your electricity is back on , you ’re no longer flush toilets with fade Charles Percy Snow , and it ’s no longer 15 level colder than the coldest day of your life . congratulation — you’ve made it through a record - breakage , once - in - a - lifetime wintertime storm ! Many of us in the Southern Plains are now wondering , “ What ’s going to happen to my garden ? ” Here are a few peak for help your garden find from a severe winter tempest .
Trees and shrubs
evergreen plant trees may defoliate after a severe storm , but they will leaf out again . Be patient with them . Many trees and shrub suffered splintering break when ice - laden branches became too heavy . Instead of leaving the splintered stubs on your tree diagram , ensure to go back and prune them suitably . use wound spray to break out and prune oaks ( Quercusspp . and cvs . , Zones 4–10 ) to keep oak tree wilt . Focus on structural pruning this year , striving to make your trees stronger and more structurally sound . Many Tree will require years to reclaim from storm harm , and careful geomorphologic pruning will help . Avoid cosmetic - only pruning for now if you may . you’re able to also pamper your tree diagram by making certain they are adequately mulched . This would be a enceinte twelvemonth to hire an ISA - indorse arborist if possible .
Perennials
aboriginal repeated plants are masters at handling wintertime weather that is normal for their region . With uttermost wintertime storms that bring disc - breaking humble temperatures , we are bound to see some loss . However , do n’t pull up and throw out all of your perennials that look spoilt after a violent storm . fret the barque or stem with a fingernail and see if there is green underneath . If there is , that ’s a good sign that the plant is still live . tailor back the ruined tops of perennials that froze hard , but leave their roots intact underground and watch to see if they issue forth back from the ancestor . Many will ! Groom woody perennials well this yr , removing dead and discredited tissue . I tip liquified seaweed to stressed industrial plant , and now would be a good sentence to enforce it to our winter - stricken perennials . However , do not fertilize until after all chance of frost is retiring .
Annuals and vegetables
Tender annuals likely did n’t endure the storm . However , late wintertime cold ginger nut can help clear out the garden for springtime planting ! Your wintertime veg garden is in all likelihood full of hardy annual veg such as kale , collard , Brassica oleracea botrytis , broccoli , Swiss chard , and Asian greens . Many of these will survive a violent storm , even one with substantial snow . Some collard varieties ( such as ‘ Vates ’ , which is superb ) are fearless down to 0 ° F , with the other brassicas not too far behind . My advice on winter greens that have weathered a tempest is not to jerk them out and throw them on the compost pile just yet . If the crown are ruin , just trim down them off at the undercoat and see what resprouts . You may have prison term for another round of Swiss chard , collard greens , and other cool - season vegetable . If you ’re already skinny to spring in your domain and do n’t have time for another round , find free to yank them and compost . I ’d apply smooth seaweed to any annual or vegetables that you are trying to lactate back to wellness .
Wildflowers
Because many wild flower seeds need cold stratification in parliamentary law to germinate , wicked winter atmospheric condition may actually increase the number of wild flower we see this year ! We may also see a showing of rarer native wildflower whose seeds have been dormant in the soil and will now be awaken by this moth-eaten snap . Many native wildflower are also capable to deal extreme ( for our region ) inhuman even as found works . The native big bluebonnets ( genus Lupinus havardii , annual ) in my garden look just fine after a trip down to 3 ° F . devote care to which wildflowers you do n’t see this year ( in spring , summer , and fall ) , and study sowing source next year for those that are missing or make a weak showing . The dividends of that will pay off in the future .
Best of luck with your poststorm garden ! The year after a really big wintertime storm is an excellent chance for us gardeners to pay close attention to what survive , what sputter , and what died . This entropy can inform our future plant selections and garden designs and help to make our gardens more resilient and more successful in the future .
— Karen Beaty was a forestry specialist at the city of Austin ’s Wildland Conservation Division .
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Many downed and cracked limbs means careful structural pruning is needed for affected trees.Photo: Karen Beaty
This juniper (Juniperuscv., Zones 4–9) branch didn’t survive the storm. It should be pruned off.Photo: Karen Beaty
This tender agave (Agavecv., Zones 9–11) is toast, but this prickly pear cactus (Opuntiacv., Zones 4–9) stands a good chance of bouncing back after dead sections are pruned off.Photos: Karen Beaty
Even though the top growth of this cauliflower is clearly dead, it may resprout if that dead growth is removed.Photo: Karen Beaty
Even the big bluebonnet foliage that was already growing during the storm did not seem to have been negatively affected by all the snow and ice.Photos: Karen Beaty
