For Release January 16, 2001

AGRI-VIEWS
by Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent

Over the next six months, many homeowners will start to see damage on their ornamental trees and shrubs. This damage will appear as anything from a few dead leaves or branches, to a plant with all of its new growth coming from the ground to a completely dead plant. Some of the damage will be from conditions of this past summer, some will be from winter conditions that we have recently had, or may yet have. Some of the damage is yet preventable, some has already occurred.

Last summer and early fall were hot and dry. November and December were cold and dry. From early September to early January we saw a temperature swing of over 115 degrees. The last six months of 2000 were nine inches below normal for precipitation. January isn’t looking real good just yet either. To paraphrase some great leader or writer, these are the times that try plants souls.

There is a good chance that some of you will see some salt damage on plants next to sidewalks or streets if these streets were heavily, and regularly, treated with deicers. While uncommon, we have had the right conditions for this to occur. The damage will appear as dead leaves and branches or foliage with browned and dead leaf edges. Unfortunately, this damage can look nearly identical to damage from many other problems. If you have shrubs or ground covers close to sidewalks or streets, pick a sunny day with the temperature above freezing and thoroughly wash off the foliage and soak up the soil under the foliage.

We should see some branch die back, or top kill, of plants that are borderline in their winter hardiness. There isn’t much we can do about this other than to prune out the dead wood after the new growth starts to develop. Likely suspects for damage would be mimosa, crape myrtle and some euonymous shrubs. There are several other species that are pushing their northern limits in Geary County that may show damage also.

Now, in fruit trees, don’t confuse winter hardiness with productivity. Hardiness describes the survivability of the plant. Productivity describes how likely the fruit tree is to bear fruit from year to year. With sub zero temperatures having already occurred, the chance of sweet cherries, plums, apricots and peaches bearing fruit this year are slim. Count your blessings if you get any fruit. Sour cherries, apples and pears are probably still okay. Ultimately, it comes down to the weather in February, March and April.

My biggest concern, and the one area where we can still do some good, is with evergreen trees and shrubs. Every day with temperatures above freezing, cause these plants to carry on photosynthesis. Photosynthesis uses water. If the water isn’t in the ground, the plant steals it from its own plant tissues. These tissues desiccate and then die. This is called winterkill. It is often preventable, IF the homeowner will take advantage of warmer days and let a hose run slowly under these trees every three or four weeks. We’ve already seen yews, junipers, spruces and pines showing damage from dry weather. We are going to see a lot more if we don’t get some water applied to the root zone of these evergreens!

Winter damage will occur. I will spend a lot of time this spring, and early summer, telling homeowners that their trees and shrubs are dead or dying. And by then there won’t be a thing they can do! Take a few preventative measures now, to reduce that damage later on!

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