Garden Casualties from our Severe Winters

keithcan

We have had two very severe winters in a row and it appears to me - certainly from my own garden experience - that there is now a CHANGE to what plants we can depend on to survive in our gardens and those that cannot be relied upon.

Now that growth has restarted and the evenings are long again, the damage wreaked by the 2nd severe winter is so apparant and I am wondering if others think that certain previously reliable plants are now luxuries: too expensive to buy and risk losing, or alternatively to be mostly grown in pots and overwintered in greenhouse.

Two plants I am now writing off that I had previously gown with reasonable success are Pittosporum (several varieties) and, surprisingly Phormium (again, most varieties have either not made it or are very sick).

Interested to hear if others have had serious and unexpected casualities and are changing their perception of what we can grow with potentially more severe winters to come.

mountainy man

Hi Keithcan, I started my garden from scratch at my cottage from a bare field site halfway up a mountain in 2006 the last really good summer, it has been a steep learning curve and had many casualties that first winter and a few suprises too since.
The garden is exposed on all sides but the east and the shelterbelts that i've planted are growing really slowly , i'm sure that the growing season is about a month shorter on average here too, high rainfall and peaty soil too, so that all said I have had to choose plants, shrubs and trees that can cope with all this. I have been watching the temperatures these past two winters and although i get alot of snow and frost, during the big freeze episodes my garden temperature can be higher than in a friend's garden 120 meters below me and this has saved a few things like my phormiums survived hers didn't and so on. Everything is relatively young so am sure that this doesn't help when the cold comes .

Anyway these past two winters have sent to the great compost heap in the sky the following: arbutus unedo, euycalyptus gunnii, choisia ternata, rosemary, euphorbia mysirnites, yucca gloriousa, cordyline, ginko, ceanothus, there could be more but can't remember now.

It's upseting but you got to see the upside there is more room for new things and who doesn't like a trip to the nursery:)(for something hardy of course)

wildlandscape

I have many plant casualties too - I lost my bay hedge (Laurus nobilis), phormiums (all three), Rosemary and ceanothus. In neighbouring gardens, the list includes Cordylines and Griselinia. The Privet and Escallonia lost their leaves in sheer terror but are recovering well now. I guess the greatest success story is the winter dormant plants like deciduous trees, roses and herbaceous perennials which are now appearing. I will be revising my expectations of plants for any garden I design in future after these tough winters.

Daisy M

wildlandscape wrote: »

I have many plant casualties too - I lost my bay hedge (Laurus nobilis), phormiums (all three), Rosemary and ceanothus. In neighbouring gardens, the list includes Cordylines and Griselinia. The Privet and Escallonia lost their leaves in sheer terror but are recovering well now. I guess the greatest success story is the winter dormant plants like deciduous trees, roses and herbaceous perennials which are now appearing. I will be revising my expectations of plants for any garden I design in future after these tough winters.

Laurel?????? I had thought this had survived the frost, I will have to rethink my plan if my escallonias dont recover!

Skrynesaver

I too have lost Pitosporum, Hebe, Phormium (which I had previously considered tough as boots) and a number of plants that I'm hoping are temporarily deciduous.

I'd be interested to know if the micro-climatrs of West-Cork, Kerry and Galway have gotten away with it or if they are also losing tender species from the palette.

Rinker

Spent yesterday tidying the garden and surveying the damage after the winter. I've lost plants such as Stipa tenuissima and rosemary in some parts of the garden and only meters away the same plants have survived. My fuchsia hedge has been killed off to the base for the second year running:( while a neighbours one has survived.

It seems like only yesterday that "all the talk" was about all the many extra plants that could now be grown in Ireland due to the effects of global warming. At the time I didn't believe that climate could change that fast and adopted a wait and see approach. Now I think I'll take a more longer term view on predictions of colder winters and replant what I've lost rather than thinking that these plants can no longer be grown here.
Isn't gardening intriguing?

farmerval

I'm a very poor gardener, but am really disapointed to have lost a well established escalonia hedge and a new Japanese ??? hedge.

Would a golden privet survive an open inland exposed site??
I'm keen to get something hardy that I could keep to about three feet tall, just to hide an old fence and not block the view.

bmaxi

I lost several Hebes, a Cistus, a Solanum and believe it or not a Forsythia. Soil conditions play a big part in what will and will not survive, I have heavy clay which is a challenge at the best of times.

Antiquo

bmaxi wrote: »

I lost several Hebes, a Cistus, a Solanum and believe it or not a Forsythia. Soil conditions play a big part in what will and will not survive, I have heavy clay which is a challenge at the best of times.

Surprised you lost a hebe but they will come back from a stump if you cut the lard out of them so it may resurrect itself.

I live fairly close to the coast so we don't usually suffer bad frost as compared to midalnds, etc. However the last two years have showed that some of the NZ/Southern hemisphere plants will no longer be an option for most gardeners regardless of your location.


Speaking to the converted I know but do your homework on plants before spending good money on a garden. Frost tolerant plants are not the same as plants that can withstand prolonged periods of minus temps. I think people have just been plain lucky with the weather over the last ten or fifteen years and plants that have been placed in the wrong location and or soil have managed to survive.

Fleecing the odd palm is OK if you are prepapred to put up with the hassle but much better to use hardier plants.

casey junior

I live in a frost pocket, last year I lost a red robin standard, all my cordylines and one of my small acers among others. This year, two choisia which had partially recovered, a spotted laurel, a rhus typhinus and three roses

bmaxi

Antiquo wrote: »

Surprised you lost a hebe but they will come back from a stump if you cut the lard out of them so it may resurrect itself.

I live fairly close to the coast so we don't usually suffer bad frost as compared to midalnds, etc. However the last two years have showed that some of the NZ/Southern hemisphere plants will no longer be an option for most gardeners regardless of your location.


Speaking to the converted I know but do your homework on plants before spending good money on a garden. Frost tolerant plants are not the same as plants that can withstand prolonged periods of minus temps. I think people have just been plain lucky with the weather over the last ten or fifteen years and plants that have been placed in the wrong location and or soil have managed to survive.

Fleecing the odd palm is OK if you are prepapred to put up with the hassle but much better to use hardier plants.

These Hebes weren't coming back. My soil conditions are not really suitable for them and even though I live half a mile from the coast in the sunny south east, we had temperatures of -10 over about a two week period in Nov/Dec.
The amazing thing to note is the micro climates that can exist in the space of a few square metres. I have a Cistus, a baby of the one I lost, which came through without a bother and a Madeira jasmine which also shrugged it all off.

mike65

No plants/shrubbs have been killed off as far as I can tell but the front hedge has taken a hit from frost that said its somewhat marginal and the growing season will replenish all I'd say.

Down with cold winters!

keithcan

I'm taken aback at how common the above experience with plant casualties has been alongside my own - but of course I shouldn't be, it stands to reason. I'm 3 years now in the north-west and fairly exposed, so the rain and exposure to wind is also a new aspect, as against my former suburban set-up.

Still I thought I had adapted to the new situation, but didn't anticipate the even greater impact of these last 2 cold snowy winters.

As others have said, I too have lost Rosemary, hebes (although some life in a few, so thanks Antiquo for the suggestion to persevere), choisia, euphorbia, ginko, ceanothus, cistus, mahonia and photinia. Having told so many non-gardners to spend less than a tenner and get themselves a cordyline cos it's cheap and cheerful and slightly exotic/interesting, they're all looking at me now with their plants shot to hell.

I also agree with Wildlandscape that there's a new respect for herbaceous perennials and other winter dormants. I'm going to take further stock over the next couple of weeks regarding those plants that did make it through and resolve to get more of them. Maybe we're going back to the 70s/80s and conifer gardens are the new thing once again...

unkel

I too am surprised that my Phormiums took a hit. The one in the back garden is dead and gone, the one in the front is looking bad

All my hebes seem to be ok (about 5 different varieties) and all my herbs (in pots) seem ok too, thought the parsley is very slow to grow atm

My cordylines are a sad story. All of them took a bad hit in winter '09/'10 and I cut them all down to the ground. All the green ones stayed dead, all the red ones slowly came back from summer but winter '10/'11 has killed them all off

casey junior

keithcan wrote: »

I' Maybe we're going back to the 70s/80s and conifer gardens are the new thing once again...

Ah no, Ah no, Ah Sweet Jesus No.

Kewreeuss

Ah yes, conifers galore. Like clothes, plants come back into fashion too.
Two fuchsia dead down to the ground but they are already throwing out green shoots, as they did last year. My lonicera lost all the leaves from the ground up to about 2thirds in height but shooting out again. I've one escallonia dead which was north facing against a wall and another close by with dead sections. Funny though that my exposed escallonia with no protection from the wind at all is fine. No problem with rosemary or herbs. Sage always gets burned in winter and always bounces back. Outer leaves of the Bay all dead. Cant believe the pansies survived. My garden is crap, crap soil and windswept. Because of this, I do not believe in spending a lot of money on plants, with keith on this. Nor do I buy southern european plants. I took a chance with the rosemary because I one saw one growing on a rock with about two handfuls of soil. Anyway it will be fun going round the nurseries to see about replacements:)

Sgt Pepper 64

keithcan wrote: »

We have had two very severe winters in a row and it appears to me - certainly from my own garden experience - that there is now a CHANGE to what plants we can depend on to survive in our gardens and those that cannot be relied upon.

Now that growth has restarted and the evenings are long again, the damage wreaked by the 2nd severe winter is so apparant and I am wondering if others think that certain previously reliable plants are now luxuries: too expensive to buy and risk losing, or alternatively to be mostly grown in pots and overwintered in greenhouse.

Two plants I am now writing off that I had previously gown with reasonable success are Pittosporum (several varieties) and, surprisingly Phormium (again, most varieties have either not made it or are very sick).

Interested to hear if others have had serious and unexpected casualities and are changing their perception of what we can grow with potentially more severe winters to come.

Great thread!

Same sinking boat unfortunately. I am gutted about the Pittosporum as its a beautiful plant and mine was growing away quite happily, reaching 5 foot which I considered safe.
Phormium was the backbone of one border, I had 3 cream and yellow ones, now lost. They suffered before, but cutting them hard back did the trick, but not this time. I might try what I've seen in council panting schemes where they have actually fleeced them until March.
I refuse to give in and grow conifers, just have to try and be more creative!

connewitz

Hi there! The last two winters took there toll and I lost a lot of plants. But I am devastated about the loss of all my roses (30!!!!) and my Japanese willows.:mad: The Escallonia did not come back, it is a goner as well. And so are all my Hebes. But all my Lilac and Forsythia survived!:)

lottpaul

Hi folks - I'm in west Kerry with a good shelterbelt, about 2km from the sea and not too elevated but we had horrendous frosts even though we escaped the worst of the snow.
My casualty list is smaller but similar

• several purple/red phormiums are struggling (may be dead) but the green and variegated are fine
• my silver pittosporum is straggly but the greens are fine
• I lost one bottlebrush out of 3: two small cordylines - Torbay and a purple variety- are dead but the green are fine
• my agapanthus are ragged looking but should recover
• but the greatest tragedies are my tree ferns - I had 5, 2 of which were quite big (had been given them as presents over 20 years ago). Their crowns should be full of strong, firm, green fronds ready to burst but all I can see and feel are brown and rotting ones. I'm hoping they may recover but am not optimistic.

On a brighter note my astelias - which I was worried about - are thriving as are the arbutus unedos, eucalyptus, variegated myrtles etc etc
There may be casualties as growth picks up and I'm watching everything carefully

John Mason

i was hit too bad but i lost a 7 year old rosemary plant, the first thing i planted:(
a new one went in today.

i also lost a fanastic sage plant, have no idea how long it was there, but it had wonderful gnarled and twisted branches

i thought it would have been much worse but everything seems to be bouncing back, except for an Ash tree, am holding out to see what happens with that

Resend

casey junior wrote: »

Ah no, Ah no, Ah Sweet Jesus No.

why not what is wrong with conifers?

skywalker_208

My Appleblossom Escalonia hedge is gone. Time to dig it up I think. At least it was only a couple of years old. One a few miles from me was years old and 8 foot high and I see was recently replaced with a laurel.

unkel

wildlandscape wrote: »

I have many plant casualties too - I lost my bay hedge (Laurus nobilis)

Aye, forgot that my massive bay hedge turned mainly brown leaved. I cut off about 80% of it, hopefully the remainder will survive?

connewitz

And now I can take stock of the casualties in the garden. As I said before, all the roses are dead, escalonia, heather, jasmine shrub, dabbled willows (I paid 60 Euro for each of them :mad:), butterfly shrub, camelias and my elephant ear as well. Have no intention of replacing all of it. But I will buy some very hardy plants for the biggest gaps in the garden and hope, they will survive the harsh winters to come!

Sneachta

Hi all,
I have a laurel type hedge at front of house. Theres the odd leaf alive on the odd tree at the bottom. Should I cut them down low or leave them be and see what happens?

sdigby

I have 2 30 yr old eucalyptus trees which have never had any problem before! I live in Athlone and we had severe frost and snow here. All the leaves are dead and falling off! We also had a Grisellinia hedge killed (not unexpected) and about 10 bulletproof Phormiums (new zealand flax). Also 5 mature Pittosporums. So it was a once in 30 yr winter. Could the eucalyptuses be gone? Any opinions please?

littlebug

I lost solanum, ceononothus, cottoneaster, clematis.

2x Pyracantha are the only things along the back wall of the garden that survived

Nonmonotonic

@sneachta ( how apt ) - That hedge looks as healthy as a trout!

All my bay trees have suffered major/minor damage, I suspect some are beyond help. What I am amazed at, with all the distruction, is the fact that no Magnolia I know of has perished. I was always under the opinion that they struggle to survive in Ireland at the best of times.

John mac

sdigby wrote: »

I have 2 30 yr old eucalyptus trees which have never had any problem before! I live in Athlone and we had severe frost and snow here. All the leaves are dead and falling off! We also had a Grisellinia hedge killed (not unexpected) and about 10 bulletproof Phormiums (new zealand flax). Also 5 mature Pittosporums. So it was a once in 30 yr winter. Could the eucalyptuses be gone? Any opinions please?

have a look near the base of the trunk.. our 2 (10year old) trees got nuked but they are sending out shoots near the base.
i'm going to leave them and see what happens.

connewitz

Nonmonotonic wrote: »

@sneachta ( how apt ) - That hedge looks as healthy as a trout!

All my bay trees have suffered major/minor damage, I suspect some are beyond help. What I am amazed at, with all the distruction, is the fact that no Magnolia I know of has perished. I was always under the opinion that they struggle to survive in Ireland at the best of times.

I was surprised myself. We only planted our Magnolia last spring and it is now in full bloom. Wonders over wonders!:)

Sneachta

Nonmonotonic wrote: »

@sneachta ( how apt ) - That hedge looks as healthy as a trout!

All my bay trees have suffered major/minor damage, I suspect some are beyond help. What I am amazed at, with all the distruction, is the fact that no Magnolia I know of has perished. I was always under the opinion that they struggle to survive in Ireland at the best of times.

How apt that made me laugh. Picture is of hedge when it was healthy, now it has no leaves at all