[Ag-eq] Article: Q/A Snowfall is good for landscape plants

[Susan Roe]

Richmond Times Dispatch 

Q: As you know, we've had some really cold weather in the past month. In addition to the sub-freezing temperatures, we had snow on the ground for more than a week. My question is: What kind of damage has this weather done to our landscape plants? 

Answer: The snow was beneficial to your plants. Not only did it insulate the roots of your plants from the cold, but it also melted slowly, releasing a good source of moisture into the ground. However, the cold temperatures and the wind may have caused some desiccation to the upper parts of your plants. Evergreens will be the most seriously affected, since their leaves catch the bulk of the wind. During freezing temperatures, plants are less able to move moisture from the ground into the leaves. Consequently, those winds dry out the leaves. We probably won't see the impact of that injury until the plants break dormancy and start to produce their new leaves. It wouldn't surprise me if we have a number of plants exhibiting brown leaves that will fall off in order to make way for the new growth. Also, depending on their exposure to the wind, the bloom buds on some plants may have been affected by the drying winds, as well. Again, we won't know for sure until it's time for their blossoms to open. 

The good news is that while this winter injury looks bad for a while, most plants recover.  If the damage is extensive, you may want to give affected plants a little dowse of a complete fertilizer to help support their recovery. 

Q: I have a squirrel who is constantly chewing on the door frame of my house. There used to be a hummingbird feeder on the fixed glass door and I suppose the squirrel is trying to dig into the door frame to find the sugar. I am afraid he is going to dig his way into my living room via the door frame! What can I do to deter him?  In the summer I threw a large amount of cayenne pepper into the hole and that stopped him for a while but it gets washed away by the rain. Any other ideas?

Answer: The best deterrent I can think of for a situation like yours is called Tanglefoot. This is a sticky material that often contains a cayenne pepper type of material. Squirrels don't like the sticky material, and if they get any on their feet, it also burns their skin. It won't kill or hurt them, but they soon learn to stay away from it. One warning though, it will discolor the wood trim, so once you feel they are gone for good, you'll need to clean it off thoroughly and re-paint 
the wood. 

Q: I have a quick question about moles. Do you know if once they dig their tunnels, do they reuse them or do they move on? If they do move on, I assume I would be wasting my time and money putting down any rodent control material in the tunnels, right? 

Answer: Actually, moles have several main tunnels that they use frequently to get from one area of the yard to another. Off of those tunnels will be small cul-de-sacs that they create while looking for food. If they don't find food, those tunnels will most likely not be used again. You're exactly right that you need to determine if you are dealing with active tunnels or not before attempting a control measure. My advice is to flatten any tunnels you see by walking on them. After two days, the tunnels that have popped back up are obviously active and may well be part of their main tunnel system. Those are the tunnels you'll want to deal with. 

Q: We had a full yard of crabgrass last year and we were told to use a preventer this spring to keep it from coming back. I know it's still February, but we want to make sure we get it on in time. Is it too early? 

Answer: It probably is a little too early, but this is the time to get the product you plan to use and be ready when the time is right. Many local turf managers suggest putting down the pre-emergent for crabgrass when you see yellow flowers on forsythia near your neighborhood. The temperatures that stimulate forsythia to bloom seem to be the same as those that cause crabgrass seeds to germinate.
Most pre-emergents are effective for 60 to 90 days, so you don't want to be too early and have the product breakdown while there are still seeds germinating in your yard. Also, in cases where the crabgrass was bad last year, or if you have had lots of crabgrass in turf near you, a second application may be necessary in early June. It's time to Prune apple, peach and cherry trees while they're still dormant. With buds just beginning to swell, remove unwanted wood before treating with dormant oil for early season pest control.