Frozen landscape plants

Tree and shrubs whose leaves and flowers have been burnt by the freeze will recover. According to Dr Bill Fountain, our UK Extension Specialist, woody plants will leaf out again. It may take a couple of months to really understand the extent of the damage to our plants but they will most likely not die.

Do NOT fertilize trees and shrubs now. Keep woody plants as un-stressed out as possible during this growing season. This means watering when we have a dry spell. After a couple months, freeze damaged trees and shrubs can be aesthetically pruned -- meaning, get rid of the ugly, dead stuff. I want to emphasize that we should still practice good pruning practices.

The bark of the crape myrtle (and our beautyberry) here at the office cracked and sloughed off with the cold temperatures. Crape myrtles are marginal here in Zone 6, so there may be a lot of dead limbs on your plant this year. Again, you'll have to wait to see what resprouts and at that point, make pruning cuts.

For Dr Fountain's entire opinion on this, click here.

Herbaceous perennials were hard hit as well. Check out our hostas here at the office.

For these plants, you will have to wait a good week to know exactly what is dead and what's alive. At that point, you might want to remove the dead leaves. Anything that remains green, I would keep since it will be photosynthesizing and making energy for the plant.

Good luck. Let me know how your plants recover from this historic freeze.

Fresh, local fruit will be hard to come by in 2007

We had spring for 5 weeks before the freeze hit. Then the freeze hit, recording temps of 18 degrees in some places. This deep, prolonged cold period really did a number on our tree fruit crops. The peach and apple crops will be very small in Kentucky for 2007. Some growers will resort to buying fruit to re-sell, but this freeze affected much of the eastern half of the US. So who knows who will have apples and peaches.

Local strawberries got hit fairly hard as well. Early bloomers, like the tasty Earliglow, lost their king blooms. King blooms are the most important bloom since they produce the biggest berries. Strawberries will continue to bloom, but yields will be much reduced and berries will be smaller.

Early blueberries probably are gone as well. We're unsure of exactly what will happen with the later crop, but no doubt, damage has occurred.

Please patronize our local growers this year. They will very much appreciate your support during a most difficult year.

What's Blooming Today

Mostly pictures today. Several things worthy of showing.

Weeping Redbud & Daphne 'Somerset'





Calycanthus in bloom








Lilac












Pawpaw blooms

Sourwoods for Everyone!

Well, maybe not everyone. I have a thing for sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) trees. I have been taking care of more than 20 seedlings since December 06. These seeds came off the tree in my yard at home. The seedlings have been growing in a south facing window in the house. This plant has been growing since mid-January 07.

As you can see, the plant is very small, maybe a half-inch tall. But we finally have 2 true leaves on it with a third on its way. The hairs on the leaves are very big for the size of the leaf. I had no idea it would be this hairy.

My intent is to prick the seedlings out and transplant them to a larger container by the end of March. I'll post more later as they grow.

For more information on sourwood trees, visit UConn's website.

Office questions

It's defintely March -- more questions are rolling into the Extension office. Here's the rundown with a few of my suggestions:

1. Deer resistant plants -- The best thing to understand about deer is that if they are hungry, they will eat anything. There are some good websites which list 'preferred' plants and 'rarely damaged' plants. I would advise looking at sites from WVU or Rutgers. Consider using some repellents, whether they be purchased products or hanging soap or hair around the garden.

2. Weed control for lawns -- Crabgrass can be a non-issue this summer if you apply a pre-emergence herbicide. The best time for this is mid-March. Get this without fertilizer attached to it! Broadleaf weed control should be done in the spring and the fall. Bermudagrass is a whole 'nother issue....

3. Roots of silver maples -- Genetically, this tree likes its roots above the ground. Nothing you can do will change this feature of silver maples. Covering up the roots with mulch might help the looks somewhat, but you need to be careful not to layer anything too deep. This could smother the roots and lead to tree decline.

The Joy of Pruning

Pruning apples, that is. Many people are totally confused about how to prune an apple tree. And to be honest, I wasn't real good at it. I'm not claiming I'm good at it now. I'm a little better.

Now is the time to prune apple trees -- really anytime before the buds start swelling. I pruned about 8 that I have at home yesterday on February 27. The prunings are where you get scion wood, which I need for a grafting workshop on April 3.

Anyway, here's a before and after shot of my Liberty apple tree. The tree is about 7 years old now. By the way, the sky was that blue yesterday -- wonderful!

Urban Trees Need Soil (Dirt)!

At the Central KY Ornamental and Turf Association meeting yesterday, we had the great pleasure to hear someone relate the dilemma of street trees. Guess what? These trees need soil (or soil-like stuff) to grow and live and thrive. And the more there is, the better they do. Doesn't this make complete sense?

I'm not at all criticizing this guy -- I absolutely loved his talk. And I think if we really want to have a thriving downtown in Somerset, part of the budget MUST be spent on trees and giving them what they need to do well.

There's nothing sadder-looking than unthrifty street trees. Somerset has many examples. Anyone reading this, I challenge you to get good information on the benefits of street trees to downtown businesses (or anywhere else for that matter) and get talking with your local governments.

There are meetings on how to organize a street tree board and how to get the whole conversation going. Click here to find more info about one coming up in March.