Snow Damage

I've been bemoaning the suspected damage to my huge Juniper hedge. Ric has been saying for the last few years that it needed to be cut back a bit. When it was smaller we would cut it back a little here and there to reduce the possibility of snow damage and we would go out and shake some of the snow off the branches. But over the years it has just gotten too big to easily trim and this big snow storm there was no going out and trying to shake the snow off. Here are a few pictures of it in it's glory days. This was taken a few years ago and it has grown at least 2ft since then. I'm 5'4" so you can get some idea of the size of it. Yardside

This is the side along the shared drive that runs along side the yard. You can just see my car parked there to give it some perspective. Several years ago I cut back along the parking area and opened up the ends. It makes it much easier to see when pulling out. There are only 4 homes that use this lane so it isn't like it's a lot of traffic but it does help to see when you are backing out.

Several years ago when I lifted the corners of the hedge I started a couple of small shade gardens under the ends by the drive way. These are 30-35 year old Junipers in this picture you can see the massive size of the limbs.

So as the snow is slowly melting away the damage is revealed.

Hard to see the damage in the pics but anything that isn't pointing up is broken.

In the second before pic you can barely see that White Birch in the background. In this pic there is a huge gap in the hedge and the WB is easily seen.

I honesty don't even know how we are going to reach the branches to cut them back. Crawl into the hedge with a ladder. Maybe a pole clip but Juniper is hard to cut. There was a drift about 8ft high on the yard side of the hedge and several feet of it are still there.

Well, One good thing is that these Junipers given time will fill in and grow anew. I know that there will be some other damage exposed in the gardens as the snow melts. I've seen some broken branches on one of the Azaleas, I still have snow in some of the shadier spots.
So if you have some damage and would like to post a few before and after pics. You are welcome to morn them here along with me. :+{

How sad to see all that damage. The bottom limbs on many of the pines around here seemed to fare the worst. Sorry you have not only all that cleanup ahead of you, but the scarred trees as well.

We were fortunate, and just have some cedars that look like they're having a limbo contest.

Holly--

I want to show you the two Junipers that came with the house when we mover in in 1969.

I have tried keeping them to this size by hand-pruning them each Spring. Sometimes i don't get to it--and only do it every other Spring. Not bad for 40 years!!!!!

Here is one that is hand-pruned (on the left) and the other one I have not done yet.
When I hand-prne each branch--when i am done--you cannot tell it has been pruned.

BUT--You were talking about damage....

I suppose my longest lasting damage has been to my tall, old evergreens along the back of my property.
I have posted this already--but I have now decided to cut them down to the ground and make a nice veggie bed out of the space. Long story short--I will create a raised bed (not me! Will pay someone to do it) and grow my tomatoes here. gets good light. See Fall projects Post......

Here are the "fallen"......I don't care! They are old and ugly and no longer servr ther purpose I intended when I planted them in 1972. GONE!!! I tell you! GONE!!!!! No tears shed! Better things to come!

Gita

BUT--You were talking about damage....

I suppose my longest lasting damage has been to my tall, old evergreens along the back of my property.
I have posted this already--but I have now decided to cut them down to the ground and make a nice veggie bed out of the space. Long story short--I will create a raised bed (not me! Will pay someone to do it) and grow my tomatoes here. gets good light. See Fall projects Post......

Here are the "fallen"......I don't care! They are old and ugly and no longer serve the purpose I intended when I planted them in 1972. GONE!!! I tell you! GONE!!!!! No tears shed! Better things to come!

Gita


Oops! Double Post! Got tired of waiting and clicked it twice!!!!!

This message was edited Mar 8, 2010 9:43 PM

We didn't get any notable damage on our yard but I do find lots of little various snapped twigs and small branches in the shrubs. My crappy one-dollar roses will get hard pruned to take out the damage , they might even be better off for it. Many of my baby holly trees (wild) were split; maybe thats why even tho I get tons of baby hollies you don't see the woods full of holly here. Some things that were bent by the snow have bounced back. One neighbor here lost a few big low pine branches too. The neighbors lollipop style juniper (red cedars) are tipped to 45 degrees- he'll have some chopping to do. Everywhere I drive I constantly still see pines and cedars tipped over in the woods, laying on the shoulder. It may be good for the forest that the snow pulled down a lot of dead stuff and vines.

OH! I had some more damage--but if i took a picture of these--you would not be able to tell.

I have Jap. Hollys (3) around the corner of my patio where I keep my grill. They, sort of, created a small area that was shielded from open view. One of them lost about 1/3 of the whole shrub.
I am sure it did not help that i did not shape them last year with my hedge clippers. Now I am paying for it!

See the low clipped shrubs at the corner by the light? Those are the ones i am talking about.
Behind them is my grill. Now they are fairly sprawled and facing the grill--there is a BIG chunk of the shrub that broke off.

Oh well! Nothing we can do!

Holly – so sorry to see all that damage to your shrubs, it must be disheartening. You have quite a job ahead of you to prune out the broken limbs. Not only do you have the access challenge, but junipers are such irritating evergreens to have to have a lot of full body contact with.

I spent the day on a job in Arlington, Va doing late winter shrub pruning and storm damage clean-up and remediation. The amount of damage I saw in transit was staggering. There were stretches on my route that looked like they had been bombed. I wish I had taken my camera. On site I had to deal with a large (50 +ft) Southern Magnolia that clearly illustrated that this species is not designed to endure heavy snowfalls.

But what a glorious day! I got to trade my parka for a tee shirt, and my ice ax for a pair of #2 Felco pruners. Snowdrops and Winter Aconite were in bloom, birds were singing and even some insects were flitting around. Had a bizarre accident though. I was hard pruning an unruly Carolina Allspice, stretching on my tip toes to reach the upper cuts. When I returned to a normal standing position a truncated stem I had pruned rammed up my left nostril, giving me a very messy nosebleed. But even that had an up side, I had a good excuse to lay back in the grass, gaze at the beautiful blue sky, and sun myself a bit waiting for my platelets to do their job

greenthumb, This is Ric, Holly's other persona, I mean husband. Pruning stories can be funny, as well are some of the body parts you may impale. The junipers do impose a bit of challenge. I don't react to it badly, just don a pair of long sleeve coveralls, kerchief, hat, and cow hide gloves, then climb/crawl in. We do have enough damage to probably justify the purchase of a set of Gator pruners. More power! ARRR http://www.blackanddecker.com/ProductGuide/Product-Details.aspx?ProductID=9867
The confined space and awkward positions make a chain saw impractical and unsafe..The hard part is getting enough help to drag all the cuttings away so I don't have to emerge any more than necessary. Then a half day rental of a commercial chipper should give me a nice pile of aromatic mulch. Gee, I wonder if I can find some evergreens to mulch somewhere? LOL
http://www.homedepotrents.com/proTools/chipper.asp , More-More power. Ric

Holly and Gita, I feel your pain. I was crushed, no pun intended, to see the mess the snows made of this Hemlock and Chamaecyparis :( It will definitely be painful when we tackle cleaning up this damage. I just planted this area last fall with Ferns, Hostas and Astilbes and I'm not sure how well they will fare this summer now that they've lost most of the shade canopy.

I tried to find a "before" picture to show you how full the Chamaecyparis "used" to be. This one isn't great but gives you an idea of how the weeping Abies to its right was using the Chamaecyparis to climb over. :(

Then this poor 'Golden Pyramid' Cypress was just finally getting some size to it, probably a little over 3' tall last summer. It was going to look great where it's located because the gold foliage was really bright with the backdrop of the woods. :(

Not quite so painful but discouraging nonetheless - usually standing tall and straight after a long winter, these Yuccas are looking pretty pitiful. :(

Oh RCN, What a shame looks like you have quite a lot of damage there.

I guess it could be worse, although there are still few others we're waiting on to see if they'll be okay. The Hollies at the front corner of the house are another casualty. They actually needed a good pruning so maybe it's a blessing in disguise. :)

greenthumb--

I like your attitude! Not surprised....
"If life gives you lemons---make lemonade!"......

G.

I lost a few branches on the Holly hedge out back but no real damage to speak of. It is still pretty small and the big holly in the front yard doesn't look too bad but there is a lot of snow still around it so I haven't given it a really good look. Besides Ric wants to shape it up anyway and I told him go ahead and play with it. LOL
The Azaleas in the front are another matter. The snow there just isn't going away and I can see some broken branches already and they are so laid down and still buried that I can't really see much yet.

Found another picture of what the Hemlock looked like last year - so full and beautiful :(

Gita, I missed your posts. What a bright spot your summer garden pics make in our sad thread. I must say that your garden is just lovely and will be again next summer. I know you mentioned taking out those trees and what you might do about the stumps, roots and whatever. How about doing a raised bed?
Greenthumb, A close friend lost the top out of her Southern Magnolia. She had been babying it for the last 5 years or so and it was just beautiful. She had been wrapping it each winter until last year when it was just too big to do and it flowered for her the last couple of years. She lives about 45 mins north of us and was pushing the limit with hers.

RCN I remember that Hemlock it was a beautiful tree. Will the damaged area grow back in time?

rcn--

I have 2 Hemlocks in front of my house. Looking at yours the thought occurred that I could "cut them up" the stems and make more air around the bottom. Mine are pretty old--I also try to keep them trimmed for size. They both have that Wooly Adalgi(sp.?) scale. last year I sprayed twice with Neem--and it helped a bit....Hard to get inside the branches to get them all.

Holly, That really is a painful amount of damage. I know how fond you are of that hedge. It was a beautiful back drop for your Driftwood and other plantings. Ric, be careful with all of that power!

RCN, This is unhappily one instance where Rick's love of pruning will be welcome.

Greenthumb, We may have to give you the "most original gardening injury" award! Just happy it wasn't worse.

Gita, Sounds like this snow will reap long term benefits for you.

Gita, if you are more averse to losing your Hemlocks than to limited pesticide use, consider Merit. It is a systemic product that applied to a tree's root zone will enter all the tissues. When the adelgids dine they die. According to the US Forest Service an infected Hemolck left entirely on its own will surcumb in 4 to 10 years. I am slow to suggest the use of chemicals, but they do have their place sometimes. The magnificent stand of Hemlocks at the base of Cunningham Falls, Md is infected. Because the trees are adjacent to the stream it is considered an environmentally sensitive area and treatment is forbidden, so enjoy them while you can. Biocontrols from the adelgid's native environment are currently being tested, but nowdays such introductions are scrutinized VERY carefully so a worse plague is not unwittingly released upon us. It may be a few years before any such control is added to our arsenal.

David--All I now have to do is find a place here that sells "Merit".

Allan Summers used to talk about this product it all the time.....

I just do not venture out to distant Garden Centers ($$$$$$) ti seek anything. I am el-Cheapo!

However--My brain does collect information and--strangely--retains most of it....

Thanks,,, Gita

Gita, Merit (which is a trade name) may be in some product at HD. I will check next time I am in one. Also, I will check at Southern States, which is generally not $$$$. Let you know what I find.

David, I'm not much for chemicals either and prefer systemics, but I usually use absorbable sprays with a sticker or wetting agent so I get a two for one result. Contact spray and systemic action. Most years 1 application is all I do, and I do some dormant oils which help with nuisance pest such as tent caterpillar, aphid and such. As far as the veggie garden goes the chickens do a pretty good job with the aid of some soapy rinses. I just hope they come out with a bio-control for stink bugs, in the mean time I'll have to see if some of the plant based insecticides like pyrethrum work on them. Ric

Ric, absorbable sprays give you a two for one result as you say, and Merit in some form comes as a spray preparaton. I was suggesting a root drench thinking that the trees might be of such size that spraying might seem daunting. I know that the older I get the taller and harder to reach everything seems to become. Come to think of it, they keep putting the ground and floors further down too. David

My Hemlocks are not that tall--as I keep trimming them and, last year, I really topped them.
They may be7' tall or so.

I can get to all sides of them.. The back side is kind of bare--as it is towards the house, but it is from there that I can spray all the inside of the bush pretty well.

This is from last July. You can see the 2 helocks. One is just behind my car---and the other onr is just to the right of the steps.. Like my Juniper--I try to keep them trimmed to stay in bounds and look nice.....The Junipers can be seen through the tree branchesto the right og the Hemlock that is to the right of my front steps.

I have NO Idea how old they are!!!!! Many, many years!!!! The Junipers came with the house--40 years ago!!!

Gita, I did not realize your hemlocks were of such managable size or I would not have suggested Merit. Your least expensive treatment would probably be insecticidal soap, especially if you mix your own. (One Tbsp of liquid Castile soap to a quart of water.) Only drawback is that it has to contact the insect before it dries.

David--I have been using Insecticidal soap--either in the dormant dilution--ot the seasonal one.
Last couple of years I have used Neem.

Now--my neighbor--who does NOTHING! to her garden--has never sprayed hers. They are approximately the same size. She did cut the "up" a bit--as the bottoms of hers were so infested.

To look at them--they are no different than mine! I am not saying mine are VERY infested--but having a keen gardener's eye--I see too much of it as it is.

I know I have at times I sprayed hers a bit if I had some solution left in my sprayer.....
Same as if I have some seeds left--and I don't know where to put them--I just walk over and sprinkle them in her beds that face my house. She never looks at them anyway! ALL this great sun exposure! And nothing much growing there to speak of! Our properties are quite close.

Gotta love your neighbors!!!!! Gita

Well there's nothing to be added by posting pictures of my landscape. They would look like copies of some others here. I kept reading how great a 'snow mulch' would be for everything, but not for three months! And actually it was more like a glacier. I never realized how much weight is in a couple feet of fluffy snow.