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| This pine tree shows damage on its eastern side. |
Fallen trees have been removed, power has been restored, and
people are back in their homes. For those of us in Westchester County, the
effects of Hurricane Sandy have passed. Or not.
Since mid-November, I have been seeing an unusual level of
salt damage to evergreens. While winter road salt always has a bad effect on many
evergreens, the damage I’ve noticed recently is far more extensive. One of the
effects of Hurricane Sandy was to carry salt spray from the ocean and drop it
throughout our area. The northeast winds gave many of our shrubs a thorough
drenching of salt water. Throughout the towns bordering Long Island Sound, we
have been seeing extensive salt damage, particularly on the northeastern and
eastern facing sides of evergreens. Many white pines that were near the ocean
are entirely brown and desiccated on their eastern sides. This is true of
plants several miles inland as well.
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| These Cypress trees received too much salt on their east side. |
How can
you tell if your evergreens have experienced salt damage? Take a look. If the
plant or tree was green last fall and now has browning needles and dry tips,
salt is a likely culprit. When salt coats the foliage of a plant, it draws
moisture out, causing a burned effect. Warming
temperatures after the storm can also have this effect. If damage is extensive,
the plant will die. If the buds are brittle or broken and easily snap with
light pressure, the entire branch is probably dead. Once needles are brown,
they never return to green again. However, I caution people to wait until
spring before making any decision on removing the plant. This type of damage is
new to us, so we don’t have a clear idea of how the plants will rebound.
Is there any way
to restore a damaged evergreen? Maybe.
If green needles are mixed in with the brown, cross your fingers and hope that the plant will rebound on its
own. If the plant is heavily desiccated, including the buds, we can go back
into the canopy and feather prune to where we find green cambium. This is labor
intensive, but it can force the dormant lateral buds to grow out. Not all
evergreens can be forced this way; there’s little we can do to assist plants
such as hemlocks or others that won’t respond well to severe pruning.
I usually recommend several applications of anti-desiccant spray
to broad-leaf evergreens during the winter; it can also help needled evergreens
retain moisture. I find it makes a big
difference in our area, not just for salt burn but for winter burn in general.
The freeze-thaw cycle that we go through in the New York Metro region is extremely
tough on evergreens. (Does 5°
one week and 45° the next week sound
familiar?) A plant health
care professional (such as Almstead) can take care of this; they will have
the equipment to reach tall shrubs. If you apply the anti-desiccant yourself,
make sure it’s on a day when the temperature is above freezing. Also, be aware
that certain anti-desiccants should not be used on some evergreens such as
cypress, arborvitae, cedar or juniper. Read the label and know the species of
plant you are treating: conifer leaves can be broad-leaf, needle, scale-leaf or
awl-like, and can’t all be treated the same way.
Salt in the
ground is a different problem. Since Hurricane Sandy gave us a one-time
application, any salt in the soil should dilute with the spring rains and snow
melt. You may want to delay fertilizing this spring if you use a generic,
synthetic fertilizer. This type of fertilizer contains salt; hold off until
we’ve had some thorough soaking. Organic humates will bind the salt in the
soil; there are actually products designed for this type of soil, geared to
areas that experience seasonal flooding.
A sudden salt
drench from a hurricane is unanticipated. If, however, you live near the water
(or near a heavily salted road), choosing salt-tolerant plants is wise. Some
plants, such as black pine, blue spruce and Chinese juniper will tolerate a lot
of salt. I always recommend choosing plants that are comfortable in your
location rather than trying to maintain a plant outside its natural
environment.
