Freeze and Frost Information

The Southeast recently experienced one of the longest and coldest periods of freezing temperatures ever on record. As a result, permanent damage may have occurred to shrubs, trees and lawns in many areas of Florida, Georgia and Louisiana. It may be difficult to determine which plants and areas of turf in your landscape will recover from this year’s frost and freeze damage. Once normal spring growth begins, we will be able to better determine the extent of the damage.

If you have Massey Middleton Landscape Services:

In December and January your service includes a winterizing fertilizer to help reduce injury. Even though this is designed to strengthen your landscape against cold temperatures and reduce injury, the extended freezing temperatures have caused some irreversible damage that will likely require some renovation this spring.

If you have questions about your landscape, please don’t hesitate to contact us or call us at 1-888-2MASSEY (262-7739).

If you don’t have Massey Middleton Landscape Services:

We can help if your landscape has been damaged by the freeze. We offer a Free Landscape Analysis whereby we will diagnose your specific situation and provide a customized plan to restore the beauty and health of your landscape.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Freeze Damage

Should I prune my frost damaged shrubs now or wait until the spring?

Wait until the threat of further frost or freezing has passed. Pruning the damaged plants will stimulate new growth that could be more susceptible to further cold injury and could result in more severe injury to the plant.

Should I mow my lawn now or wait?

Yes, continue to mow – but not if freeze or frost is present. We recommend mowing about once every two weeks until the threat of frost or freeze has passed.

What can I do to speed up my lawn’s recovery from cold injury?

If the lawn was in good health before the frost or freeze, nothing extra needs to be done to speed-up the recovery. For current Massey & Middleton Landscape customers, your December and January services provide a winterizing fertilizer with slow release Nitrogen, Potash and Magnesium, which will help strengthen the plant to withstand cold temperatures and will encourage greening when the temperatures climb in the Spring. There is no need or benefit to apply additional fertilizer immediately after a freeze. Spring fertilizer will be applied in February or March.

When will I know if I have permanent areas of damage?

When the weather warms up in the spring, the areas that have survived will begin to grow out of the injury. Areas that do not green up indicate permanent areas of damage and will need to be replaced. It is possible for these areas not to be fully known until the latter part of March or early April.

Some landscape trees and shrubs may not show damage until many months after a freeze. An examination of the trunk will show that the freezing temperatures have caused the bark to crack. Death to the plant occurs because the tissues that transport food and water up and down the trunk have been damaged.

Can Massey Services help if there are shrubs or areas of lawn that need to be replaced?

Massey Services offers turf and shrub renovation services. If shrubs or areas of the lawn have been permanently damaged, contact us for a Free Landscape Analysis and Massey Services will provide you with a written estimate for the cost of repair and will install plants that are guaranteed to establish and thrive.

What causes one plant to be damaged from the cold when others are not?

Cold injury occurs when the cell walls of the plant rupture- resulting in the loss of moisture in its cells. The plant tissues then die from desiccation (it dries up). The ability of a plant to tolerate frost or freeze varies greatly among species and varieties of plants.

Bermudagrass and Zoysiagrass brown more uniformly as they transition into a state of dormancy during the cold temperatures.
St. Augustinegrass does not brown uniformly and lacks a protective dormancy mechanism. It is also more susceptible to permanent damage from freeze.

Why do I have damage in some areas and not uniformly across the lawn? Why is one area of my lawn damaged more than another?

Many factors such as the availability of moisture in the plant, the slope of the landscape, the moisture in the soil, wind speed and other protection factors like tree coverage determine the amount of cold damage that occurs from one area to another.

Plant moisture – If a plant is dehydrated going into a freeze the damage will be more severe.
Landscape slope – Damage will also be more severe at the bottom of a slope since cold air falls and warm air rises.
Soil moisture – Moist soils are usually warmer than dry soils resulting in less cold injury. Additionally, irrigation water makes the soil warmer and provides added protection. Soils watered before a freeze are less susceptible to cold injury.
Wind – Wind can both increase or decrease the amount of cold injury depending on just how cold the temperatures become. It can keep frost from forming when the temperatures are near freezing or increase the amount of damage caused by desiccation if the temperatures fall far below freezing.
Canopy – Some plants and turf will be protected from frost by coverings such as the canopy of a tree or the side of a home.

How can I reduce the amount of damage to my landscape?

Irrigate before the frost or freeze to ensure there is proper moisture in the soil root zone, however, make sure irrigation is stopped early enough to allow time for leaves to dry in order to avoid ice forming on them.
Please Note: Do not irrigate during a freeze. This practice is beneficial in nurseries and citrus groves only because they are equipped to water non-stop until the ice is melted. If not done properly, this practice can prolong the amount of time that plants are subjected to the harsh, cold temperatures.
Cover cold-sensitive plants with blankets or boxes but NOT plastic. Be sure to remove the covering as soon as the temperatures begin to warm up.
Do not mow turf that is frozen, but keep the lawn mowed high. This can reduce cold injury in a number of ways. First, it will promote a deeper root system, which will provide greater stress tolerance. In addition, higher mowing heights can create a warmer micro-environment due to the extra canopy cover provided by the longer leaf tissue.
Avoid foot traffic or vehicular traffic on frozen turf as it can increase damage.

If you have any questions, please contact us and a representative will be able to help you with your question.