{"664388":{"#nid":"664388","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Cold Snap Takes Toll on Plants","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EUpdated Jan. 23, 2024\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe recent days of below-freezing temperatures showed little mercy on plants and shrubs, leaving many severely battered and in some cases dead. Now, gardeners are assessing the landscape and determining what to do.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFirst, I would remove anything that is clearly dead,\u201d said Steve Place, campus sustainability program manager in the Office of Sustainability. This advice applies to herbaceous plants \u2014 those with no woody stems above ground \u2014 including many perennials and nearly all annuals and biennials. Those plants are not coming back, so it\u2019s OK to discard them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut perennials with a woody stem, like hydrangeas, require a different approach.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHydrangeas flower on old wood, so even if they look dead, leave them alone,\u201d Place said. Neil Fuller, associate director of Landscape Services in Infrastructure and Sustainability, agrees. Because plants are mostly dormant this time of year, it will be hard to tell what the overall damage is until they start pushing new growth.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cUnless there is obvious structural damage, such as major broken limbs or huge cracks, I would not cut anything back just yet,\u201d Fuller said. \u201cShould we get a second run of extreme cold, any heavy pruning now could allow for even more damage. Also, a plant that looks like a goner may be perfectly healthy. So, typically, we reserve hard pruning for the tail end of winter so that when the temperatures start to rise, the plants begin rejuvenating.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIf you are unsure if a branch is damaged, Place suggests scraping it with a clean, sharp blade and looking for green just underneath the bark. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA small scrape should suffice,\u201d he said. \u201cAs the plant flushes back out, more damage may be obvious. At that time, you can conduct a harder and more thorough pruning. The key is to let the plant tell you where it needs to be pruned rather than brutally pruning a plant that is already stressed.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBottom line: If you have doubts regarding a plant\u2019s condition, doing nothing will avoid further harm.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECampus landscape experts give advice for recovery.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Campus landscape experts give advice for recovery."}],"uid":"27713","created_gmt":"2023-01-04 21:38:13","changed_gmt":"2024-01-24 16:15:00","author":"Victor Rogers","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-01-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2023-01-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"664393":{"id":"664393","type":"image","title":"Tea olive","body":null,"created":"1672927112","gmt_created":"2023-01-05 13:58:32","changed":"1672927131","gmt_changed":"2023-01-05 13:58:51","alt":"Tea olive shrub damaged by freezing weather ","file":{"fid":"251416","name":"Tea olive.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Tea%20olive.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Tea%20olive.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":616119,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Tea%20olive.jpg?itok=pVEBwGvy"}},"664394":{"id":"664394","type":"image","title":"Outdoor plant","body":null,"created":"1672927624","gmt_created":"2023-01-05 14:07:04","changed":"1672927645","gmt_changed":"2023-01-05 14:07:25","alt":"Outdoor plant harmed by cold weather. 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","file":{"fid":"251418","name":"plant damage.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/plant%20damage.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/plant%20damage.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":930468,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/plant%20damage.jpg?itok=OpVR-Q4Z"}}},"media_ids":["664393","664394","664395"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/features\/2022\/03\/tech-lawn-and-garden-caring-houseplants","title":"Taking Care of Houseplants"},{"url":"https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/features\/2022\/06\/tech-lawn-and-garden-planting-vegetable-garden","title":"Planting a Vegetable Garden"}],"groups":[{"id":"1317","name":"News Briefs"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1990","name":"landscaping"},{"id":"188688","name":"infrastructure and sustainability"},{"id":"191816","name":"Steve Place"},{"id":"191817","name":"Neil Fuller"},{"id":"117621","name":"landscape services"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/victor.rogers@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EVictor Rogers\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}