With all of the cold weather we’ve been having lately, local
gardens are looking pretty bad. We’re not only talking about
yellowing lawns, but throughout home landscapes there are plenty of
plants that are discolored and, in really bad cases, appear
dead.
With all of the cold weather we’ve been having lately, local gardens are looking pretty bad. We’re not only talking about yellowing lawns, but throughout home landscapes there are plenty of plants that are discolored and, in really bad cases, appear dead.
Ah, but hold off on pruning away brown branches or removing damaged plants. That’s because most plants are pretty hardy. Even if they are brown and appear dead, chances are most plants will make a great comeback come springtime. Corrective pruning should not be started until the full extent of the damage can be determined. At the same time, those brown and damaged branches are serving to provide protection from future freezes. So even if things are looking pretty poor in the garden about now, resist the urge to prune away damaged portions.
In my own garden, my fuchsias and bougainvilleas have lost all their leaves and only bare, brown branches remain. The citrus has light green and yellow leaves, with the branch ends withered and curled. Even the agapanthus, which have always been winter hardy, are shriveled up. And that’s not even mentioning the most noticeable damage in the landscape, which is the lawn. The grass is a light green at best, and yellow and brown at worst.
Luckily, the more noticeable lawn has the easiest fix. Specifically, all you need to do is fertilize with a high-nitrogen fertilizer such as sulphate of ammonia (22-0-0 fertilizer analysis). Luckily for you, too, sulphate of ammonia is the cheapest, fastest-acting fertilizer around. It only costs about $5 for a 20-pound bag. That bag will fertilize even the largest lawn at least three times. I always feed my lawn with sulphate of ammonia around once every six weeks throughout winter. A hand-held, whirlybird feeder makes fertilizing fast and easy. In fact, neighbors probably think I’m strange when they see me fertilizing in the rain. That’s because sulphate of ammonia needs to be watered in to work. Why water in the middle of winter when all you have to do is time your feedings when it’s going to rain?
Which brings me to a pet peeve. Those of you who have automatic sprinkler systems, please turn off your systems this time of year. Most systems have a “rain” button that you simply push when it’s raining, which turns the system off. There’s nothing more wasteful than seeing somebody’s automatic sprinklers going full blast while it’s raining.
In order to test whether plants are really dead or simply damaged by the cold, you can scratch the bark of plants with a knife or sharp clipper. If it’s green underneath, the plant is still alive and will come forth with new foliage in the spring. If it’s brown underneath, you may have some problems. Whatever the case, don’t do anything with cold-damaged plants for at least another two months. As mentioned, most plants are very resilient and will come back even when they appear dead.
So there you have it. Be patient when it comes to cold-damaged plants. And get out there and green up those lawns with a high-nitrogen fertilizer.
