Bring Your Plants Back to Life After Storm Damage
We’ve been hit by storm after storm with more rainfall in the area since, well, ever. We all know that water is critical to plants, but it can put them into critical condition if there’s too much. And there’s definitely been too much.
Although it may appear that your previously healthy plants are flat as a pancake and damaged beyond repair, don’t worry. They’re probably ok. Take a look at the branches and stems of your plants. If they’re just bent and flattened, they will come back. Even if some of the leaves are torn, they can recover. No need to prop them up - that may damage them further. Give them a week of California sunshine, and they should look like almost normal again.
If your stems have been really damaged, you can help bring them back to life by removing the severely damaged parts within a week after the last downpour. This will help make room for new growth and may help prevent the more browning sections from the beginnings of disease.
Now’s also a good time to take a look at how all the excess water behaved in your yard. Did it stand in one or several places? Did it run downhill or have somewhere else to go? Did it build up around your house, seep in and flood it?
We’ve been hit by storm after storm with more rainfall in the area since, well, ever. We all know that water is critical to plants, but it can put them into critical condition if there’s too much. And there’s definitely been too much.
Although it may appear that your previously healthy plants are flat as a pancake and damaged beyond repair, don’t worry. They’re probably ok. Take a look at the branches and stems of your plants. If they’re just bent and flattened, they will come back. Even if some of the leaves are torn, they can recover. No need to prop them up - that may damage them further. Give them a week of California sunshine, and they should look like almost normal again.
If your stems have been really damaged, you can help bring them back to life by removing the severely damaged parts within a week after the last downpour. This will help make room for new growth and may help prevent the more browning sections from the beginnings of disease.
Now’s also a good time to take a look at how all the excess water behaved in your yard. Did it stand in one or several places? Did it run downhill or have somewhere else to go? Did it build up around your house, seep in and flood it?
Think about how a retaining wall, raised beds, drainage ditches, and redirecting gutters may help for next time. Stepping stones, ground cover like tanbark, rock or gravel can help prevent your yard from turning into a mud pit. We've got a 5% discount on flagstone this month, so it's a good time to start this project.
Don’t worry too much about your plants - they’ve been handling torrential rains since the beginning of time. They’ll bounce back. But you can help mitigate the damage next time with these preventive and post-storm measures.
Don’t worry too much about your plants - they’ve been handling torrential rains since the beginning of time. They’ll bounce back. But you can help mitigate the damage next time with these preventive and post-storm measures.
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