❄️ Will your plants survive? How to assess your North Texas landscape after deep freeze
Insurers expect hundreds of thousands of claims from burst pipes, water and freezing temperatures after the winter storm that paralyzed Texas and other parts of the country.While generally we recommend a yearly maintenance pruning from mid-February to mid-March for perennials and shrubs, this year is a little different for a couple of reasons. An early spring pruning initiates a growth response and encourages plants to push new foliage.
This same technique can be used this year for evergreen trees and shrubs . Defoliation on evergreens does not mean they are dead. In fact, defoliation is a better sign than brown leaves that stay attached to the stem. It’s likely that many plants considered evergreens in most years will see some type of leaf drop or winter dieback after this extreme weather event. It’s just too early to tell exactly how minor or significant this damage will be.
By mid to late March, you should be better able to assess what tissue is pushing new growth vs. tissue that is continuing to succumb to freeze damage.Depending on their age and specific microclimate, established dwarf palmettos and windmill palms are extremely cold hardy. Like other evergreens, their foliage should be assessed in the next weeks, as things begin to warm. Other relatively cold hardy palms will likely see severe damage if they were left unprotected.
The aforementioned cambium layer is green in stems or branches that are still alive. One way to test if a plant or part of a plant is still alive is by using a sharp pocketknife to make a small nick in the main branch. The best method is to make a small upward-angled incision in the bark. If the cambium is indeed still green, this flap can be easily folded back and makes only a slight, easily healed wound.
If the cambium layer is dried, cracked or has faded in color, it’s a sign that this branch or even potentially, the whole plant, should be removed.