Thursday, January 31, 2019. What were you doing on that day? What about the next day, February 1?
I know it is hard enough to remember what we had for breakfast somedays, much less what we were all doing 4 months ago. For the vast majority of us, though, the answer to both questions would be we were at home. The Polar Vortex hit Chicago and we were all literally in survival mode. The life threatening weather caused all of us to cancel appointments, stock up on groceries and stay inside for days on end. We bumped up the thermostat by a few degrees, made sure our cars had plenty of gasoline, and checked on our neighbors as the weather outside dipped to minus 23 degrees Fahrenheit.
The trees, shrubs and flowers in our yard didn’t have the luxury of a thermostat or extra an extra layer of clothes. They did however have a blanket of snow surrounding them. Snow is an excellent insulator and helps to protect plants during the winter. Even though there was a blanket of snow on the ground during the Polar Vortex, our plants suffered the brunt of the extreme temperatures.
This spring the effects that the brutal winter had on our plants is just now becoming evident. Below is a summation of my observations so far this year. Please note though that the very nature of the damage I am seeing varies widely. A boxwood that looks completely dead may be planted right next to an absolutely gorgeous boxwood. In quite a few yards I have seen Burning Bush that look very sparse. Yet I drove by one this afternoon that was 6’ tall and filled with leaves. These notes are in no way a blanket statement of what is happening in each and every yard.
Overall, I think most plants made it through the winter just fine. Right now is simply the time to observe and care for the plants by providing them adequate water (not a problem this spring!) and fertilizer. With summer will come warmer temperatures. These warmer temperatures will help to push out new growth through the buds on shrubs and trees. As the ground temperature warms perennial flowers and groundcover growth will also become more evident.
There are a few plants that I am consistently seeing winter injury on. There are as follows:
Burning Bush – Many, many burning bushes are not leafing out fully. They have a fibrous root system and I believe that a portion of the roots on many burning bush may have been killed when the soil temperature dropped this winter. They are hardy to USDA zone 4 which means that they should be able to survive our winters because we are zone 5. However, when are temperatures drop significantly below what they usually are plants that are hardy to our zone may not survive. There is significant dieback on many burning bushes. I do recommend giving burning bush a few more weeks to see how much they leaf out. Depending upon the extent of the dieback pruning may be an option or the plants may have to be removed.
Boxwood – Unfortunately, many boxwood have suffered winter burn. The tan leaves on boxwood are an indicator that those leaves either need to be allowed to fall or pruned off. Evergreen shrubs (of which the boxwood is a part of) continue to go through transpiration throughout the winter. Transpiration is the loss of water through the needles or leaves. Because the ground is frozen in the winter, evergreens have no method in which to replenish that water loss. Wind can have a drying effect on evergreens. It is that drying that causes evergreens to have tan or orange needles. One way to protect your evergreen shrubs from winter burn is by applying an anti-desiccant spray in the fall and winter. The hope would be that as the boxwood develops new growth this spring that the winter burn would not be so evident. There are clearly some boxwood though that are dead and will need to be removed.
Yews – This is another shrub that is within the classification of evergreen shrubs. Yews suffered winter burn last winter. Again time, fertilizing and pruning may be the best course of action.
Upright Arvorvitae – Some upright arborvitae have multiple trunks. These trunks can be weighed down by snow. The weight of snow can cause one or more of the trunks to bend and/or break.
Weigela – Many weigela appear to be leafing out quite well but may need some pruning. If you are noticing quite a few bare branches, then you may want to cut those branches back to the point where there are leaves. For instance, if a branch is 24” tall but there are leaves on only the bottom 12” then prune off the top 12” of the branch. Weigela usually respond really well to this type of pruning.
Perennial flowers -It seems that most perennial flowers made it through the winter pretty well. The insulating affect of the blanket of snow really helped protect them.
Ornamental Pear trees – The ornamental pear trees seem to be very slow to leaf out and most do not have their usually bountiful display of flowers. I haven’t seen any pear trees that have died; they are just a little slow to leaf out.
Spreading Milorganite fertilizer in your planting beds this year will help your plants to recover a bit better from the tough winter. Milorganite is a slow release organic fertilizer. Fertilizer stakes can also be used around trees and shrubs. Osmocote is another slow release fertilizer that can be used around perennial and annual flowers.
Looking for something fun to do? Check out the Monarchs and Milkweed Festival. It is an event that is hosted by Kane County Forest Preserve and will feature Free Milkweed Plants, Live Music and Food trucks. It is an event that is designed for people of all ages. The festival will take place on Sunday, June 23rd at the LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles.
Kathleen Carr is the owner of The Growing Scene, Inc., a garden center and landscaping company. She can be reached by calling 815-923-7322 or emailing her at Kathleen@thegrowingscene.com.. Have a gardening question? Please contact her. She may address it in an upcoming column.
