I talked to Jennifer Hatalski at Calloway Nursery about some ideas for replacements. My advice would be to pull these two types of shrubs and replace with something that will handle extreme cold and extreme heat. And some shrubs are so severely damaged that, while still alive, will only limp along as ugly ducklings for years to come.Īnd that is assuming there is another zero-or-below freeze right around the corner to finish them off.
Now that we are entering our second summer, I believe it is safe to say there is no miracle on the way. Some landscapers and homeowners either haven't gotten around to removing and replacing the damaged or dead shrubs (it is an expensive proposition) or are simply hoping for a recovery miracle. Many landscapes still bear the scars of the Great Freeze. That's a lot of empty space just from those two species alone. It is difficult to guess how many shrubs we are talking about here, but many landscapers put the death rate at around 80%. Much died off last winter but some of the hardest hit plants were the VERY popular shrubs Indian Hathorne and Pittosporum. Many of the shrubs planted over the last 30 years were planted for Zone 8 or 9, plants that can handle only brief periods of temperatures down to 10☏. My point is that a lot of new landscaping went in between these record freezes. At the time of February freeze last year, the population was close to 6.5 million (more than double). So the last time DFW was that cold (-1 on December 23rd, 1989) the population of the Metroplex was just over 3 million people. This was the first negative low temperatures at DFW in thirty-one years and the coldest morning since 1949. 16th, 2021, the official low at the DFW hit -2☏. NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - As I am writing this, north Texas is now 16 months removed from the Great Freeze of February '21. She is now the sole proprietor of From the Garden, a market garden farmette.Gardening 101: shrub replacement ideas 02:17 Water when temperature reaches 40° F, a temperature at which water can be absorbed by the roots.Įllen Peffley taught horticulture at the college level for 28 years, 25 of those at Texas Tech, during which time she developed two onion varieties. Moist soil stays warmer than dry soil and fully hydrated cells better withstand freezes. The day before a freeze is expected deep water roots root systems in dry soil are damaged worse than cold temperatures. Keep root system moist but not soggy wet.Ĭritical step before a freeze is expected: Water is an insulator.Fertilize next spring with weak applications of nitrogen.Once dead tissues have been removed, shape existing branches.Retain the strongest, most robust shoots allow these to grow and overwinter.If young shoots are weak and spindly, they will remain so next year prune these back, but not all the way to the origin. Light is critical in new cell growth, strengthening existing tissues. Cut dead branches to their origin, exposing flush, young shoots to light.Plants with new growth may be salvaged since there are living tissues emerging from the established crowns. It is time to remove them from the landscape and replace them. Plants that have not resumed growth by now will likely never return because tissues are dead. of Norman, Oklahoma, wrote with similar concerns about their crepe myrtles.Īnswer to both questions: By now plants have been given sufficient time to allow recovery of systems and resumption of new growth. Damage was seen in Pittosporums, Hollys, and especially Crepe Myrtles. The February freeze affected an enormous area from South Texas north to Oklahoma, killing many plants and trees outright, while others lived but sustained damage as described by Pam W. The thorough description of the Indian Hawthorns in Pam’s email is a scene repeated all over the South Plains and it is not limited to Indian Hawthorns.
#Indian hawthorn texas freeze full
We all remember the sustained freezing temperatures that lasted a full 10 days. Along with other gardeners, Pam is afraid if there is repeat of last year’s freeze, it will kill plants that are trying so hard to come back. Pam is wondering if she should just continue to let bushes regrow at their own pace. of Lubbock asked about her Indian Hawthorn bushes that sustained heavy damage in the freeze and noted they are trying to come back. New growth on her shrubs is concentrated at the base with some new leaves scattered throughout and a few at the top yet brown dead leaves continue to hang on.
0 kommentar(er)
