Winter Damage

The hardest hit were evergreens and semievergreens with leaves instead of needles; plants like cherry laurel, holly, southern magnolia, boxwoods, nandina, azaleas and rhododendrons. These are now brown or defoliating.

There is nothing we can do for the plants during winter. Do not cut back, do not feed, do not pull them out. We won’t know what the official damage is until warmer weather starts to come. It can take longer than we think for a plant to re-flush, so don’t be alarmed if it takes until June to show any signs of new life.

We don’t know exactly what can be done but we expect that most plants are still alive and will put out new leaves this spring. There is a good chance we will cut back and fertilize but only after we know what parts are dead. It’s always better to cut back as opposed to replanting to save on watering and transplant shock.

We have seen damage on broadleaf evergreens before but nothing on this scale. We have grown all of the affected plants for 30+ years in central Kentucky and they have never been like this before.

This was certainly a very abnormal weather event and set many records. We wouldn’t expect to see that windy and cold weather again but our weather only gets more unpredictable. Spraying the plants with Wilt-Pruf and wrapping with frost blanket would have helped. We still love all the plants affected and wouldn’t hesitate to continue using them.

We always strive to be fair with our guarantee but it does not cover abnormal weather events. Our guarantee is designed to protect you from faulty plants but it is not an insurance policy. We are not covering plants that die from winter damage.