This past winter was especially long and brutal. We had what it seems like nonstop cold and snow. We landed in the second place for the amount of snow that has fallen in a winter season, and we had many, many days with below average temperatures. What does this mean for our plants? Are they going to be damaged from this brutal winter? What can be done?
This winter wasn’t anything too crazy for our plants as long as they are rated for the climate that we are in, which is a USDA Zone 5b or 6a for the majority of the Grand Rapids area. What the USDA Zone 5b or 6a means is that plants rated within the USDA Zone 5b can withstand temperatures to -15 to -10 degrees Fahrenheit and USDA Zone 6a can withstand temperatures to -10 to -5 degrees Fahrenheit. We did bottom out around -12 degrees Fahrenheit. This is past the threshold of the USDA Zone 6a, but within the range of the USDA Zone 5b. Most of the plants in a typical landscape for the area are rated for at least USDA Zone 5b or lower. Those plants will be fine.
Now if you do have some tender plants that were damaged, they will need to have the damaged parts pruned back or have the entire plant replaced.
An issue that may affect more plants will be the snow on the branches. Larger plants and shrubs should be fine as they are able to take more weight. However, some of your newer or smaller plants may have had some damage from the weight of the snow. The same goes for this type of damage, prune back the damage or replace the entire plant.
This winter, despite being unusually snowy and unusually cold should have not been overly damaging to your landscape. The plants that should be planted around here, USDA Zone 5 or colder rated should have had no problem making it through this past winter.