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Post freeze NTX landscaping discussion

18,979 Views | 140 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by EllisCoAg
The Collective
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culdeus said:

Bamboo seems nuked

chick79
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My only plant/tree I'm concerned about is my Japanese Yew.
YouBet
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YouBet
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I have what is probably a 20' ligustrum type tree and it's shedding leaves like a m'fer. My two oleander look to be toast. That isn't surprising though.

Edit: by sight alone I look to have lost 50% of our total landscape. Remains to be seen if some of it recovers. This is going to be expensive.
wbt5845
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So, pretty sure all my wax leaf ligustrums are dead. I had two nice full ones between the pool area and my heat pump condensers, so that kinda sucks. But I've replaced both condensers since I planted them and they're now much more quiet. You can see the severe leaf drop going on -time will tell with these.



Not too upset about those - back yard, kind of a pain in the ass to keep trimmed back. I'll replace with something that doesn't get so big and is lower maintenance - will open up that side of the yard some too.

In front, looks like lost all the Pampas Grass, which I'm actually thrilled to death over. I tried digging it up yesterday but only got part of it and decided to wait and make sure it's really dead.

I lost some pittosporums as well, which I do regret - they were pretty. I had them in front of holly bushes right at the foundation and they were getting a little big for that location. Not sure what I'll replace them with.

Of course, the holly bushes that came with the house, which I like the least, came through like champs.

TBD - the crepe myrtles and St. Augustine yard. In today's FWST, Neil Sperry said don't give up too quickly on the St. A - the layer of snow we got first may have insulated it from see the very coldest air and it may come back. We'll see.
wbt5845
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Anyone else have a live oak that's dropping leaves like crazy?
drewser95
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Sounds like it's to be expected. Saw this in a Facebook post from Greg Grant:
Quote:

Live oaks (Quercus virginiana) certainly don't look good right now but brown leaves aren't an indication of a dead tree since live oaks aren't true evergreens and lose every leaf every year, most often when the new leaves push the old ones off. It's not uncommon during cold snaps to lose the leaves early. However, live oaks are a coastal tree which didn't evolve with regular snow, ice, and zero degree temperatures, so there's certainly a chance of there being lingering damage. There's absolutely nothing to do right now except wait and see. The one I inspected at the Tyler Botanical Garden yesterday was completely alive with new buds starting to swell. However I remember in the 1980s freezes there being major damage to live oaks in the Dallas area with the bark popping off of many of them the following few years. My friend Neil Sperry thinks they are going to be OK, so we'll hope for the best. It's important to remember though that Dallas, Tyler, Longview, and Shreveport are out of their native range.

Dealing with Freeze Damage on Plants
Greg Grant, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
(February 27, 2021)
Bottlerocket
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wbt5845 said:

Anyone else have a live oak that's dropping leaves like crazy?


Yes!! I've emptied the pool skimmers four times today. I Blew and bagged live oak leaves off the deck and within 2 hours, it looked as if I did nothing. It seems much heavier than years past. I like the live oaks in my front yard, if the one in the back that puts leaves, acorns, small twigs in the pool died, I'm okay with that
culdeus
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Live oaks are 50/50 around me. Some look really sick others are pre freeze. What's driving that? Varieties?
wbt5845
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I know my live oak typically sheds late winter, but I've never seen it quite like this. Obviously, I'm waiting a while on everything.
bert harbinson
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I'm taking this opportunity to remove an overgrown yaupon holly tree that's dropping tons of leaves into the pool. I doubt it's dead, but it's been a nuisance with leaves and berries for years, time to go.
helgs
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My Pittosporum are toast. Have about 5 of them and they are all brown and the stems seem dry. I'm going to HATE having to pull them up. But I'll still wait and see what happens.

My live oak is dropping every leaf it has ever had it seems. If that tree dies, I won't shed a tear. I hate that stupid tree. Drops acorns and leaves all over my patio.
YouBet
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helgs said:

My Pittosporum are toast. Have about 5 of them and they are all brown and the stems seem dry. I'm going to HATE having to pull them up. But I'll still wait and see what happens.

My live oak is dropping every leaf it has ever had it seems. If that tree dies, I won't shed a tear. I hate that stupid tree. Drops acorns and leaves all over my patio.
Yes, this is going to be my most emotional loss.
planoaggie123
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helgs said:

My Pittosporum are toast. Have about 5 of them and they are all brown and the stems seem dry. I'm going to HATE having to pull them up. But I'll still wait and see what happens.

My live oak is dropping every leaf it has ever had it seems. If that tree dies, I won't shed a tear. I hate that stupid tree. Drops acorns and leaves all over my patio.
I will hate paying for it but I have 3 trees at my house I am looking for most any excuse to knock down.

I am not good w/ shrubs/bushes but i walked around yesterday and most of my bushes seem to be fairly green near the buds so hoping won't be a full loss....
Trucker 96
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My neighborhood has a ton of live oaks, and there is certainly varying degrees from some that look ok (mine do - knock on wood) to others that appear to be toast. But I do tend to think most of them will recover. The next month will be interesting. It's a 30 year old neighborhood so all of them are mature, so it will really change the look of the neighborhood if a lot of these did actually die. Hope not.
The Collective
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I have a 50+ year old live oak that looks like hell. Based off of that, I'm choosing to believe it is not a sign of loss at this point.
2wealfth Man
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What are folks going to be replacing ligustrums with? I need a screen (per HOA rules) to cover some A/C units in the front of my house.
Enviroag02
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My sunshine ligustrums are all brown but still have all green wood underneath. Would they still have green wood if they were currently dead or dying?
YouBet
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One of my live oaks decided to start dumping leaves yesterday en masse. Thought I had escaped that but guess not.

Not great, Bob.
riverrataggie
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No. Be patient.
riverrataggie
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My red oaks are budding now. My one live oak has leaves still that are brown but live oaks lose their leaves this time of year anyways.
The Collective
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April should be fun once I figure out what is dead and not dead. Thinking getting plants at nurseries or the box stores is going to be challenging this year.
wbt5845
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Well, my live oak is still alive. Pull back a couple of small branches and they're still green inside.

Several bushes though just snap right off and are likely dead.

One issue that has come up. The next week is when we in North Texas need to put down pre-emergent weed killer. However, if you are putting down new grass, you are supposed to wait a year before you use a pre-emergent.

Issue is - with my St. Augustine, I have no idea whether it is going to come back. So I have to guess one way of the other.

I think I'm going to go ahead and put the pre-emergent down. It supposed to be good for 100 days. So around June 1, I would be able to put down new grass if I need to.
YouBet
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wbt5845 said:

Well, my live oak is still alive. Pull back a couple of small branches and they're still green inside.

Several bushes though just snap right off and are likely dead.

One issue that has come up. The next week is when we in North Texas need to put down pre-emergent weed killer. However, if you are putting down new grass, you are supposed to wait a year before you use a pre-emergent.

Issue is - with my St. Augustine, I have no idea whether it is going to come back. So I have to guess one way of the other.

I think I'm going to go ahead and put the pre-emergent down. It supposed to be good for 100 days. So around June 1, I would be able to put down new grass if I need to.
I've missed that window it seems. Weeds all up in my yard.
AggieFrog
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YouBet said:

wbt5845 said:

Well, my live oak is still alive. Pull back a couple of small branches and they're still green inside.

Several bushes though just snap right off and are likely dead.

One issue that has come up. The next week is when we in North Texas need to put down pre-emergent weed killer. However, if you are putting down new grass, you are supposed to wait a year before you use a pre-emergent.

Issue is - with my St. Augustine, I have no idea whether it is going to come back. So I have to guess one way of the other.

I think I'm going to go ahead and put the pre-emergent down. It supposed to be good for 100 days. So around June 1, I would be able to put down new grass if I need to.
I've missed that window it seems. Weeds all up in my yard.
you missed it last fall then.

Have several bags of Haltz to put out this weekend along with a few more for 100 days out.
YouBet
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AggieFrog said:

YouBet said:

wbt5845 said:

Well, my live oak is still alive. Pull back a couple of small branches and they're still green inside.

Several bushes though just snap right off and are likely dead.

One issue that has come up. The next week is when we in North Texas need to put down pre-emergent weed killer. However, if you are putting down new grass, you are supposed to wait a year before you use a pre-emergent.

Issue is - with my St. Augustine, I have no idea whether it is going to come back. So I have to guess one way of the other.

I think I'm going to go ahead and put the pre-emergent down. It supposed to be good for 100 days. So around June 1, I would be able to put down new grass if I need to.
I've missed that window it seems. Weeds all up in my yard.
you missed it last fall then.

Have several bags of Haltz to put out this weekend along with a few more for 100 days out.
Yep. I've sucked ass on weed control in my yard in the last few years. Time to correct.
riverrataggie
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Curious how things are going for people here. My red oaks have small leaves now and live oaks are budding.
AgBQ-00
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I'm seeing green coming back in my St Augustine. Live oak has dropped a ton of leaves not really seeing many new buds. Burr Oak and pecan are not budding yet. But they did so late last year.
riverrataggie
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Yep. They call the pecans late bloomers for a reason. We have one over 100 years old. I'm sure it's been through this before. Not to worried about them.
YouBet
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My privet is actually alive somehow. Green shoots all over it.

Pretty sure still dead:
- Pittosporums
- Ligustrums
- Azaleas (although they are rated to 0 supposedly)
- Oleander
- A few potted plants that I had thought survived under cover later died.
- Indian hawthorne
- Yaupon Holly Tree (don't think it's this exactly but it's basically a 12 ft tree version of it)
- Ligustrums tree (that's not what this is but it's basically a giant looking version of one about 20 ft high and at least that in circumference)

Not sure about:
- St. Augustine
- Bermuda (I have an isolated square of this by our driveway)
- Chinese fringe flower

Everything but the grass above accounts for 80-85% of our shrubbery landscape, so pretty "catastrophic" for us if we lose it all.
riverrataggie
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Yeah. Y shrubbery around the house doesn't look good. I've already ripped a 1/3 of it out. Starting fresh with stuff that can handle single digits
AggieFrog
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riverrataggie said:

Yeah. Y shrubbery around the house doesn't look good. I've already ripped a 1/3 of it out. Starting fresh with stuff that can handle single digits

Thanks for guaranteeing we won't have single digits again for a few decades.
YouBet
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riverrataggie said:

Yeah. Y shrubbery around the house doesn't look good. I've already ripped a 1/3 of it out. Starting fresh with stuff that can handle single digits
That was my plan as well. Do have to be careful with those not handling heat on the other end though.
planoaggie123
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I dont think we will know yet but I am relatively optimistic and worst case if wrong it will give my wife a project to re-do everything anyways which is what she really wants.

I am looking out my office window (not WFH) and trees a few days ago I swore were gonners are budding.
Trucker 96
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Neil Sperry seems to think the Yaupon's will largely rebound. He has a number of his own that look dead at first glance but he thinks they'll recover. So you may hold off on removing that one just yet. But most of the rest of your dead shrubs are on his "looks dead, is dead" list
 
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