FREEZE DAMAGE BEGINNING TO SHOW

The immediate impact of our cold snap in January varied throughout the Northwest. The Portland/Vancouver metro area and Willamette Valley got slammed with snow and Ice while Seattle received a little snow but was very cold. While the snow and Ice had immediate impacts to areas south, the cold weather impacts are beginning to show up throughout western Washington and Oregon.

Most plants utilized on landscapes in Western Washington and Oregon are hardy but some are marginally hardy and the wind exacerbated the impacts and damage. As can be seen in the pictures above and below, cold and wind damage is beginning to show up on evergreen shrubs. Even the most hardy evergreens can be impacted by the cold with leaf burn. Leaf burn is showing up and will result on some or all leaves to drop going into spring. However, most will re-foliate when they break bud and begin to grow in the spring while some plants may need to be rejuvenated.

Some marginally hardy plants include Escallonia, Viburnum davidii, Viburnum tinus, Abelia, New Zealand Flax, Otto Lyken Laurel, Wax Privet, Cotoneaster, and Nandina.

Unfortunately, while most plants will survive, spring will be messy and some shrubs will look bad until they can recover in mid to late spring. For some, the best recovery will be to cut the plant back like we do to many anyway as you have come to learn from our annual recommendation of rejuvenation.  We will keep you informed as the specific impacted plants on your specific properties and our recommendation. 

And if you have some cold damaged plants, below are some resources for you view:

·        https://hortnews.extension.iastate.edu/cold-and-freeze-damage-garden-plants.

·        https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/care/weather/treating-cold-damage.html

·        https://thegoodearthgarden.com/plant-recovery-after-a-hard-freeze/