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Hard to know where to start in offering advice or just comfort (misery does love company) regarding the many and varied ways our new weather is wreaking havoc on our plants.
Most spectacular is the effect of all that snow and ice on our evergreens.
At my house, the eastern white pines were protected by their location — beneath a huge oak.
The arbs (Thuja “Holmstrup”) along the front (south-facing) bay window tell a different story.
I planted them about seven years ago, all in a row. Behind them grew viburnums.
Last fall I decided it was time to cut the latter down to size. They’d grown so tall I couldn’t see the front terrace from the window seat I like to curl up in on sunny afternoons.
Not that the front terrace is anything much to look at, especially in winter, but the tall shrubs were blocking light too, and the bay window is home to not just my window seat but to half a dozen sun-worshipping houseplants.
When the viburnums were reduced by half their previous height, the 7-foot “Holmstrup”s stood sentry alone.
Making matters worse was that they hadn’t received their annual haircut, the one that keeps their branches uniformly short and sturdy.
I forgot all about the arbs in those first few days post blizzard when all hands were shoveling out stranded cars and clearing the walk.
Ten days (and two or three freeze-thaw cycles) passed before I remembered to check on them.
Normally I sweep the snow off evergreen branches just after it falls. This time I let it accumulate and then turn to ice. All the better to trap more snow and rain and make more ice and …
Well, you get the picture. It was not pretty.
I brought my broom outside and found a pitiful sight. Where there once stood a row of slender emerald divas, resplendent in all seasons, now was a haphazard lineup of bedraggled crones, their branches tossed this way and that and so swamped in snow that it was hard to even imagine what was underneath, a once proud stand of evergreens or a rubbish heap.
I immediately began trying to unearth the shrubs, chipping away until it was clear that this was a garden and not a landfill.
Removing the enormous weight failed to rouse the branches from their humbled condition.
I went inside and did some research on how to resuscitate conifers squashed by a blizzard.
The good news (well, mostly) came in the form of an article written for the extension service at Kansas State University.
This sort of thing happens all the time in Kansas.
I remember decades ago when the effects of global warming were first being observed by gardeners. We were told that it wouldn’t be long before Minnesota’s legendary winters were history. Living in St. Paul would be just like living in St. Louis.
Kansas is adjacent to Missouri, so close that Kansas City, Missouri, is often confused with the other Kansas City, the one just across the border in Kansas.
I figured this writer knew whereof she spoke when she advised her readers to hold off removing snow from squashed shrubs. The branches were already under considerable stress from being bent over and/or pinned to the ground. They could easily break.
Best to let the ice and snow melt before attempting any sort of rescue.
The writer advised restraint not just in snow removal but also in shrub renewal.
Having already broken rule one, I was fully prepared to return to the crime scene once it stopped raining and see if I could force the arbs into an upright posture, possibly erecting some sort of support.
Don’t even think about it, I was told.
Best to leave collapsed shrubs alone until spring and then put nature in charge of rehab. They will naturally right themselves in response to sunlight and genetics, though it might take some time.
Patience is the key, as usual, but that’s not all. Prevention is also advised.
Keeping conifers tightly pruned reduces the risk of damage. You can also secure their branches with twine or wrap them in burlap. The latter may prevent the desiccating effects of winterburn as well.
Now’s the time
Now’s the time to begin winter sowing. This means sowing seeds in plastic milk cartons cut in half and letting the seeds germinate outdoors in spring.
This practice has become a popular alternative to starting seeds under lights in the basement. Just make sure you know which varieties are best suited for winter sowing and when (January through March, depending on the variety) to sow.
You can find detailed instructions online from the University of Minnesota Master Gardeners.
A breakthrough in the indoor seed-starting world is Gardeners Supply’s new double-deep planting tray.
The idea here is to eliminate the messy business of moving tender seedlings from the tray into individual pots prior to planting them in the garden.
Normally, once seeds have germinated in shallow trays they are thinned and survivors replanted individually in larger containers, then returned to the shelf under the lights.
The new trays look like containers and are about three inches deep with small holes poked in the sides to let air circulate.
Of course, you can always wait until the soil outdoors is warm and sow seeds directly in the garden — or let the pros do the germinating for you and buy plants at the garden center.
Bonnie Blodgett of St. Paul writes a gardening column for the Pioneer Press. Her email address is bonnieblodgett@gmail.com
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