After the longest winter on record for many parts of Canada we are now experiencing damage to many plants that we have never seen before.

While cold temperatures are a culprit in some instances, the over-use of salt is another.  

Many plants that are marginally hardy in your area will be damaged but not dead: peach trees and butterfly bush in Toronto, Rhododendrons in Ottawa, yews in Montreal - you get the idea.  These plants may have brown or rusty foliage but the living tissue in the plant may be ready to put forth new growth within the next month or so.

The watch word here is: patience.  As the roots of your established plants come to life they will push new life in to the living parts of your winter damaged trees, shrubs and evergreens.  When it does you will know definitively the extent to which each specimen is damaged, whether to prune it or dig it up and replace it.  

I have several boxwood and yews in my zone 5 garden that were scalded by the sun as it reflected off of the snow late in winter.  I have given them a gentle pruning with sharp hedge shears and a shake down with a gloved hand to remove the loose, brown foliage.  

A sharp blast of water from the end of your hose will help to reveal the true health of many evergreens.  Give a go and put your pistol grip water gun to good use!  

Enjoy this segment with Jeff and I and remember, above all: use sharp tools for pruning but only after you are satisfied that portions of the plant are dead and not dormant.  Patience.