FEATURESTORY
by Mike McGroarty
Dealing with Frost Damage
I
t finally happened. A bunch of plants in my yard
that had started blooming received heavy frost
damage.
My hydrangeas froze weeks ago. Unseason-
ably warm weather in February set us up for disas-
ter, but I was hoping, hoping, hoping that we would
dodge that bullet. We had several freezes in the past
few weeks and most things seemed to handle it pretty
well. So to be perfectly candid, I was truly caught off
guard. There is serious damage to many of my Japa-
nese maples.
What Should Have Been Done
I should have gotten out there early in morning as
the sun was coming up and washed the frost off the
leaves. That helps. Would it have prevented the dam-
age? I don't know. The frost was heavy and hung on
even after the sun came up.
What Can Be Done Now
Nothing. Mother Nature created this situation and
only Mother Nature can undo it. The best thing that
32
you can do after a late season frost is just wait and see
what the plants do next.
Please don't try fertilizing them or treating them
with any magic potion. Just wait. It's going to take
time. Many of the leaves are damaged beyond hope,
but for the most part that's just cosmetic.
You just need to hope that the tissue below the
bark is not damaged. In most cases the plants will
make new leaves and all will be well, but it's going to
take many weeks for that to happen.
The worst case scenario is that some tissue dam-
age did occur but hopefully not throughout the
plant. Chances are most things will recover. It's like
you or I being involved in a serious car accident. We
usually pull through given enough time to heal.
Mike McGroarty is the owner of McGroarty Enterprises
and the author of several books. You can visit his
website at FreePlants.com and read his blog at
MikeBackYardNursery.com.
www.GardenandGreenhouse.net
March 2019