This is going to be a hard spring for winter damage. We’re getting lots of calls and messages about brown evergreens, especially Deodora Cedars, Blue Atlas Cedar, Lebanon Cedar,Holly, Photinia, Boxwood, Nandina, Crape Myrtle, Euonymous & Southern Magnolia, to name a few.
Not only did we have severe cold, but it was a very warm dry winter until recently. Dry soil in winter is tough on plants, especially on evergreens, and broad-leaved evergreens most of all. That’s because evergreens continue to lose moisture through leaves and needles all winter, then suffer when they can’t replace this moisture from dry frozen soil. Don’t let your evergreens enter winter in dry soil. Winter damage produces brown margins, centers, or whole leaves, but most of these plants are not dead! Winter damaged leaves will fall off and be replaced with new growth. Be patient. Give them plenty of time to be sure they are dead before pruning. One test: scrape a bit of bark and look for green underneath, a sign of life. Leaf portions may fall off and look like insects have been feeding. Don’t be fooled. Insects are not active in cold weather.
Southern magnolia have amazing resilience. They can even freeze to the ground and recover. The best way to help your magnolia is to water it in dry falls & winters, and water during dry spells this growing season. Don’t try to prune off dead leaves. That often damages the buds of new growth coming in. Let them fall off naturally as there is a chance that the buds will recover and leaf out in spring and summer.
Deodora, Blue Atlas, & Lebanon Cedars are zone 5-6 plants which means they are borderline cold hardy along much of front range and western Kansas but fine in most of SE Kansas. You might consider watering it a bit more frequently when its warm and dry in the winter like it has been. You might also consider mulching around the tree with an organic mulch such as wood chips to help conserve soil moisture and moderate swings in soil temperature.
There are a couple other things to consider. Are the needles which are turning brown this year at the tips of the branches or are the older needles further down the branches? Its is normal, though sometimes alarming in appearance, for older needles to turn brown and drop off.
Don’t worry most of these should recover but will look bad for a while. For all of these, especially newer planted ones, check under the barks at tips for signs of life. Some minor trimming to remove freeze damage may be necessary. Some plants like roses and nandina wait to see where they are budding and trim back hard. Water, fertilize in spring and use root stimulator to give these plants a jump start this spring.
Happy Planting! Come See Us!
HONG’S LANDSCAPE & NURSERY, INC.
