Over the next few weeks, we will be addressing the freeze damage to plants which everyone has suffered. We are working on a video giving easy to follow instructions about what to prune and how.
It is not critical, and in fact, may be too early, to start most pruning immediately. If you have palm leaves hanging down, you may prune them as soon as this last freeze (hopefully) passes. Gingers, which look blowtorched, may be cut to 18″ tall this weekend if desired. Blackened, wilted herbaceous plants like Mexican petunia (Ruellia) and shrimp plant can be cut close to the ground. But woody shrubs like ixora and plumbago, small trees like citrus, and sad looking philodendrons should be left alone another week until we can more closely determine the level of damage, and therefore where to prune.
Watch for us to address these recovery issues here in the Garden News and on social media. Email us at info@gillnursery or message us on Facebook and Instagram with your related questions, so our upcoming instruction video is as complete as possible in helping you through this temporary setback.
– James Gill
Teresa Ryan says
What about fox tail ferns in the ground.
james says
Cut off at the ground they will likely come back
Kristen says
Hi James, what should I do about honeysuckle, Esperanza, and jathropa?
We have some huge orange honeysuckle that are very mature and several that are about fence height roughly 2 years old, on the newer ones I haven’t been able to find any green under the bark. We also have large mature jathropa (however you spell that) and Esperanza.
Any advise is greatly appreciated!
James Gill says
I expect all of these are dead to the ground, but will probably grow back from the roots.