# Dead bushes post TX freeze?



## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

How long should I wait to see if bushes return to any form of green before declaring them dead?
Have a bunch of bushes and a few palm trees that are now crunchy and brown from top to bottom.


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## bernstem (Jan 16, 2018)

Might help if we know what type of Shrub they are. Some shrubs will regrow from roots even if the top is completely dead.


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## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

I wish I knew what they are. I'll post some pictures in a little bit.


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## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

Here you go

I believe the last one is Elaeagnus, and they continue to turn brown and loose leaves.


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## Deltahedge (Apr 1, 2020)

I wouldn't rip them out yet. Down here in the Houston area, some of our bushes that looked completely dead have started putting out new growth just in the last 3 days and look like they're going to make it. I don't know what your weather has been like up there in Dallas, but I would guess when you get a little warmer in the next month you'll start seeing new green growth.


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## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

Ok, i'll keep waiting. Thx
Any thoughts on that palm? Cut the fronds(?) / branches off?


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## Deltahedge (Apr 1, 2020)

I don't know anything about palm trees, so I can't help you there. Maybe someone else will chime in.

We lost quite a few big agave plants from that freeze. I'm hoping some of them will come back from the roots.


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## quintafresnos (Mar 3, 2021)

Patience. I thought all the barbed wire bushes as I call them (bougainvillea) had died, but most of it seems to be starting again.My bananas looked a complete mess but I took a machete to them and now they are coming up. Ferns almost completely died off. The lophophoras were fine. I've decided to be very careful about what I replant because the climate is becoming more extreme and its seasons misplaced. I never expected to see -6C here any more than Texans did, but I expect it won't be the last time. The peach seemed lifeless but a few flowers have appeared. I'm hoping for a reduction in the number of pests such as ticks and pinolillos.


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## mjh648 (Sep 1, 2020)

anyone had any luck in houston with oleanders coming back? Mine look absolutely pitiful.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

I'm not in Texas, but I have some Loropetalum that are in rough shape.


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## mjh648 (Sep 1, 2020)

@Ware I have 2 loropetalum that seemed to stay alive during the freeze. Had them covered with like 3 layers though.


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## Stellar P (Apr 13, 2018)

mjh648 said:


> anyone had any luck in houston with oleanders coming back? Mine look absolutely pitiful.


These went through winter being green and the foiliage turned brown at the freeze. Just last week I noticed new growth from the root ball, and then this weekend i noticed the branches put out new growth.


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## mjh648 (Sep 1, 2020)

@Stellar P wow jealous! did you cover them during the freeze or do anything special to them afterwards? soil activator, cutting them back? I really wish mine would show something.


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## Stellar P (Apr 13, 2018)

They're too large to put the effort into covering. They range from 8-15'. I only cover my two front beds when any freeze comes through. That didnt even matter this time. These Oleanders are in the back yard.

Nothing was done to them. I was waiting to see if any new growth would come through. I pruned the tips about 2 weeks prior to the freeze in an effort to increase budding this Spring. I was worried that they didnt have time to heal before the forecast started to show the North Pole relocating down here. But looks like they'll rebound. Not sure how much of the existing branches will put out new foiliage, but I'm confident new growth will come from the ground on all plants.


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## mjh648 (Sep 1, 2020)

@Stellar P I just can't tell if they are dead or not. Some branches were very dry and i just snapped them off but most of them are pliable but don't break. Inside is white. I cut them back maybe 5' off the top and did a soil activator. Guess I'm just playing the waiting game. I'll snap some pics when I get home.


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## Stellar P (Apr 13, 2018)

@mjh648 Mature branches break easily. Growth that has happened within a year is usually pretty pliable.


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## Rippyro (May 22, 2020)

We're in north Texas and nearly every indian hawthorn in our neighborhood has died or gone extremely dormant lol 
We pulled four out yesterday that didn't seem to be bouncing back. We just didn't have the patience to wait on them to recover if they were going to lol I hope everyone else has better luck


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## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

I'm getting a quote tomorrow to yank all the bushes and take down 3 crispy wax myrtles. They have zero signs of life.


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## UltimateLawn (Sep 25, 2020)

I've pulled out four Indian Hawthornes and have four more to go. I've not figured out what to replace them with, but they are certainly crispy. Definitely dead. I was never a fan of them, so looking at the beneficial potentials.


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## Deltahedge (Apr 1, 2020)

DFWdude said:


> I'm getting a quote tomorrow to yank all the bushes and take down 3 crispy wax myrtles. They have zero signs of life.


I think if your wax myrtles were going to come back, they would have already. I have a about 140' worth of wax myrtle hedge at my house. They all went completely brown and dormant after the storm, but every single one of them came back to life about 3 weeks ago.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

I gave up on my Loropetalum bushes pulling through and replaced them this weekend. Our house is selling at the end of the month, and I didn't want them to be a burden to the new owner.


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## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

Ours are toast too. But the wax myrtles are coming to life!


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## cldrunner (May 14, 2019)

@Ware Did you stipulate in the contract that the lawn had to be reel mowed?


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

cldrunner said:


> @Ware Did you stipulate in the contract that the lawn had to be reel mowed?


I didn't. It won't be long and it will look like every other lawn in the neighborhood. :|


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## Lawndress (Jul 9, 2020)

Ware said:


> I gave up on my Loropetalum bushes pulling through and replaced them this weekend. Our house is selling at the end of the month, and I didn't want them to be a burden to the new owner.


I lost my loropetalum and marginal camellias in the last big freeze where I live. I'm just done with marginal plants. So many things that haven't frozen since the 1910s or 1970s are getting blasted. This grand solar minimum is no joke.


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## Getting Fat (Dec 31, 2019)

for those wondering about the fuss:

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin-to-start-cutting-down-trees-that-died-during-winter-storm/


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## Lawndress (Jul 9, 2020)

I'm not in Texas myself anymore, but we had a similar intensity of freeze, killing hardy palms that had been in the ground since the 1960s.

This is actually the second (and so far worst) nasty freeze that central and southern Texas has had in the past 10 years. It's not going to get any better for the next 30 years or so, so if your shrubs are barely surviving, it might be a good time to do something else. I'd expect a repeat within 5-10 years again.


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