Every few years or so we experience harsh weather conditions in the bay area, the unusual part about ice is it’s not always plant friendly. Many valued plants can take a hit from an unexpected cold snap. Although one might think that the plant is dead and should be removed or pruned immediately, but we must be careful and mindful of the best landscaping practices.
Let’s discuss the most common less troublesome types first. Soft foliage type plants such as agapanthus, philidendron, flowering society garlic, lirope, canna, acanthus, alocasia can be cut back immediately.
These plants are well adapted to the cold in our bay area region and will propagate new growth next spring.
On some rare occasions philodendrons will lose a little foliage from an older stem or two during cold snaps. Identifying live foliage or stems takes some time and may emerge in the spring as late as late April or May.
Deciduous perennials plants like Mexican evening primrose, lantana, and Miscanthus grass may also be sheared back following a freeze. Sometimes the plant material will appear completely dead and will come back completely with new foliage from the base of the plant.
Take some time before you decide to remove these plants. Even Hydrangeas are well known to survive and come back to life in late spring. Though some hydrangeas look awful at this time of year, it is not advised to prune them back until early spring.
Evergreen plants and grasses, including Oleanders, Fountain Grass, and Bottlebrush cannot be cut back until the risk of frost has passed. Early pruning can encourage new growth to form. In the event this happens, the new foliage may be severely damaged and cause the plant to decline to the point of no return.
Though it may seem like an illogical approach to leave a dead looking plant for the next few months, but economically it makes perfect sense be patient to wait and-see if the plant will emerge back to life in the coming spring months ahead.
Ok, here comes the unfortunate news: Depending on how severe of a freeze you experience, some tropical plants including Gardenia, Euryops, Ficus, Azalea, King Palms, Citrus lemon, Citrus Lime, may or may not come back after a cold snap, you may be fortunate enough to have microclimates that protected the plants for example under an eve of a building or a protected court yard.
Before investing more money on expensive plant replacements, it’s almost always best that you delay your planting until the spring and do your research finding a commercial landscape contractor that understands local micro-climates and the plant types that will tolerate unpredictable bay area weather.
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FloraTerra is a commercial landscaping company providing Landscape Management services including: Shopping Center Landscaping, Strip Mall Landscaping, R & D Developments, Luxury Apartment Landscaping, Residential Estate Landscaping, Home Owners Association Landscaping, Condominium Developments and Commercial Office Landscaping.
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