AP :How to prepare your garden for bad weather (Part 2)
Dean Dosdick
For The Associated Press
A look at some kinds of severe weather and how to prepare for them:
- Hurricanes: Use plants that are wind and salt tolerant. Natives are best for wetter areas, such as palms, cypress and magnolia trees. Containerized plants can be moved indoors quickly. Prune overhanging limbs from large trees; stake smaller ones. Pick up or secure any garden debris or ornaments that can become projectiles in high winds.
- Flooding: Lawns take a beating from floods. Grass can survive several days under water in early spring, while the ground is still thawing and before growth has begun. But standing water on hot summer days will cause significant damage. Ponding generally occurs in low, poorly drained areas after the high water has receded. Take note of those locations and re-shape them. Reseed or re-sod where the grass has been killed. Quickly and carefully remove any silt dropped by floodwaters.
- Tornadoes: Soften your landscaping. Unless you're in a wildfire-prone zone, replace crushed rock and pebbles used as protective mulch with shredded bark. That could lessen structural damage should it be thrown into the air.
- Wildfires: The amount of cleared space around a home is directly related to the home's ability to survive a wildfire, the Colorado State Forest Service says. Create fire-safe vegetation. Mow grasses low around structures. Plant flowers in widely separated beds. Shrubs can be "ladder fuels," enabling fires to spread, so plant them well away from one another and far from trees. You don't need to clear-cut your property, but prune branches at least 10 feet above the ground and distance trees from structures.
- Hail: Protect prized plants with a shelter or cover. Plants that the hail has stripped of leaves generally will grow back. Plants with pounded stems, however, may not. Wait a few days to see if they appear to be recovering before re-planting or calling it a season. Hail-damaged fruit should be picked and discarded before it rots and attracts insects and other garden pests. Flowers hammered by hail may survive, especially if they're among the varieties that need deadheading.
- Icing: First remove trees with damaged root systems — any that are leaning or have fallen. Eliminate broken limbs still attached to trees. Prune trees extensively if they might become hazards with the next storm. And there will be a next storm.
For The Associated Press
A look at some kinds of severe weather and how to prepare for them:
- Hurricanes: Use plants that are wind and salt tolerant. Natives are best for wetter areas, such as palms, cypress and magnolia trees. Containerized plants can be moved indoors quickly. Prune overhanging limbs from large trees; stake smaller ones. Pick up or secure any garden debris or ornaments that can become projectiles in high winds.
- Flooding: Lawns take a beating from floods. Grass can survive several days under water in early spring, while the ground is still thawing and before growth has begun. But standing water on hot summer days will cause significant damage. Ponding generally occurs in low, poorly drained areas after the high water has receded. Take note of those locations and re-shape them. Reseed or re-sod where the grass has been killed. Quickly and carefully remove any silt dropped by floodwaters.
- Tornadoes: Soften your landscaping. Unless you're in a wildfire-prone zone, replace crushed rock and pebbles used as protective mulch with shredded bark. That could lessen structural damage should it be thrown into the air.
- Wildfires: The amount of cleared space around a home is directly related to the home's ability to survive a wildfire, the Colorado State Forest Service says. Create fire-safe vegetation. Mow grasses low around structures. Plant flowers in widely separated beds. Shrubs can be "ladder fuels," enabling fires to spread, so plant them well away from one another and far from trees. You don't need to clear-cut your property, but prune branches at least 10 feet above the ground and distance trees from structures.
- Hail: Protect prized plants with a shelter or cover. Plants that the hail has stripped of leaves generally will grow back. Plants with pounded stems, however, may not. Wait a few days to see if they appear to be recovering before re-planting or calling it a season. Hail-damaged fruit should be picked and discarded before it rots and attracts insects and other garden pests. Flowers hammered by hail may survive, especially if they're among the varieties that need deadheading.
- Icing: First remove trees with damaged root systems — any that are leaning or have fallen. Eliminate broken limbs still attached to trees. Prune trees extensively if they might become hazards with the next storm. And there will be a next storm.
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