“Fried Yard” — Whether it’s from a freeze, a drought, wildfire, flooding, chemical intrusion, more than one of those, or something else … the subsequent time of waiting for our plants to show new growth, so we know what to cut and what to keep, can be a hard waiting period.
But there’s plenty to do in a fried yard. That stripped-down environment can be an unexpected boon, highlighting many opportunities to adjust the positions of steppingstones, trellises, concrete pottery, fountains, birdbaths, and other nonliving features that create definition in our gardens and mini forests.
Some things I’m doing include moving pieces of trellis around to exclude overly bright street lighting; adjusting the position of stepping stones; adding a fresh batch of natural mulch; shoring-up shade and privacy features by adding pieces of fabric, bamboo lengths, etc.
One plant-related task we can definitely do even while waiting for new growth, is observation. Can do, and absolutely SHOULD do!
Notice what plants survived, what thrived, while other plants took a hard hit to the point of appearing possibly dead.
You may or may not want to purchase more plants at some point to replace whatever ends up having been killed, but regardless, this is good information.
Also, do a review of what plants you can propagate just by sticking a cutting in the ground. Those make good shade-trellises, privacy fences, noise buffers, protective barriers against harsh street-lights, shelter for tender annuals once you’re ready to plant those again, and more, in addition to providing fruit or wildlife habitat or pollinator forage or whatever else you like about them. I call these easy-grow powerhouses “scaffolding plants.”
Here at my home in Daytona Beach, my favorites in that category are prickly pear cactus, elderberry, mulberry, and chaya (Mexican miracle spinach tree). I’ll be making more little fences and trellises out of these beautiful, durable, and very useful plants.
Further reading on freeze damage: Here’s a great post from Josh Jamison, one of our foremost food-crop researchers and growers and teachers in central Florida. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/181ngCM2Cx/?mibextid=WC7FNe Their farm was hit hard, but they are not giving up and they are keeping things in perspective.
Added later: Do you know what else I just noticed, sitting out here enjoying my morning coffee. A little corkystem passion vine (native plant beloved by pollinators). I didn’t even know one was growing here, it had probably been covered up by the very prolific Ipomoea cairica vine. That Ipomoea is extremely well-adapted, and grows profusely in warm weather, but readily dies back in the cool season.
So it’s kind of cool to notice the little corkystem vine, and it’ll have a chance to grow with some more space and sunlight than it’s been accustomed to these past few months.
I can think of analogies in organizational and community life too! After a “freeze,” some heretofore unnoticed denizens get a chance to stretch and shine.