Hundreds of trees damaged after rough winter season
Posted March 22, 2017 12:12 am.
Last Updated March 22, 2017 12:16 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CHILLIWACK (NEWS 1130) — Spring may have sprung in the lower mainland but some cities are starting to see the effects left by an unusually long and cold winter season.
BC gardening expert Brian Minter says this past winter definitely left its mark after the city of Chilliwack lost at least 400 trees to an ice storm.
“We’ve had not record, but close to record cold in the Vancouver region, certainly in the Fraser Valley. In the Eastern Fraser Valley we were down to -14 to -20 celsius with windchill”, says Minter, who adds these extreme temperatures caused many plants to “burn”.
He says damage has also been seen after the excessive weight of flurries bent and broke shrubs and tree limbs around the region.
However, the veteran gardener says he expects many plants to recover once temperatures begin to climb.
“The good news is that it wasn’t as severe as it could have been”.
If you’re worried about certain plants and whether they’ll be able to come back from the cold months, Minter says there are ways to tell if a plant still has a fighting chance.
“Most plants are going to come back. Yes they look burnt and they were frozen or bent over and broke, but they certainly will come back with a bit of pruning,” he says. “If you scrape the bark of a tree if you’re wondering if it’s alive or not and if there is a bit of green under the bark, the plant is really going to be fine.”
Minter says he expects good things from the gardening season ahead, but is asking you to be patient if you’re planning on rolling up your sleeves and tending to the garden this spring.
He recommends waiting for some consistently warm weather, and a few days without rain in order to dry up some moisture still in the ground.
