LIFE AFTER DEATH 

First off let me say that I am not going to proselytize to you about reincarnation or the resurrection or any other forms of spiritual beliefs.  I’ll save those thoughts for the opinion page.  But what I do need to share with you is the state of our gardens after this memorable winter we just experienced.  I touched on this in January and again in February and due to the influx of questions at the nursery I’m feeling like I should go over it one more time.

I believe the overall message I have been preaching is that it is still too early to know for sure what is going to recover from the freeze and what is just plain dead and needs to be removed.  This month should give us the information to answer that question.  Here is how it works.

Plants that have what I like to call severe freezer burn will begin to regroup and activate dormant buds from older wood that was mature and tough enough to survive the winter.  This usually happens closer to the ground and the result is that the upper portion of the shrubs will dry up and drop any remaining leaves.  Once we can see where these new growth buds are then we can cut off everything above that point.  If the plant wasn’t totally hammered then we should be able to restructure it in a season or two.  This approach requires some patience but in the end allows us to salvage the maximum amount of the plant.  The problem with this approach of course is that patience can be a scarce commodity and most of us by this time of year have none.

So the next best plan is to just prune the crap out of the shrub by one half to two thirds which gets rid of all the dead looking stuff and actually stimulates it to start growing.  It also makes the yard more tidy which gives us a sense of accomplishment.  Rather than feeling helpless and at the mercy of the weather, we at least feel like we are doing something and that is always a good thing. 

If you choose to prune your shrubs hard this month then be sure and provide some extra fertilizer (think food) to support all the new and vigorous growth that your plant is going to generate.  And with any kind of hard pruning you absolutely have to do a follow up in the summer to clean up any remaining dead wood and to guide and direct the new growth so the shrub will have a pleasing form.  Remember, pruning stimulates growth and you will rarely if ever kill something by pruning it.  Drastic times often call for drastic measures.  Don’t be a wimp. 

As a general guideline I think it is safe to say that if your shrub is totally black then you will need to cut it down to 6-12 inches from the ground.  Like I just said, drastic times call for drastic measures.  On the other hand, if there are still green leaves then a much less severe pruning regime will suffice.  Maybe only remove one quarter to one third of the top and then see what happens.  Regardless of which approach you use, you will still need to follow up in July and make some course corrections.  This is not going to be a “prune it once and forget about it” type of year.  What Mother Nature did in a couple of weeks will take us several months if not a couple of years to repair.  Such is the life of a gardener.

So the above information ought to enable you to forge ahead with your woody plants in your garden.  If you are patient then March will continue to be a waiting game for you.  If not then I have just given you permission to prune with gay abandon.  In fact, if patience is totally not your virtue then you will probably want to get out the shovel and pick and put what remains of your shrub out of it misery.  Then you can reward yourself by coming down to the nursery and buying something new and exciting.  And far be it for me to discourage you to do that!