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We all probably would look a little rough after three months without sunshine and fresh air.
After a record-breaking winter, you may find that your lawn and plants are a wreck. Yards look matted and slimy; some plants show damage high above the soil.
For now, at least, the bottom line is: Keep off the grass.
“You shouldn't be walking on the turf because it's too wet and you can crush the plants' crowns,” said Kathleen Cue, an associate in horticulture with University of Nebraska Extension for Douglas and Sarpy Counties.
The exception: Get out there to clean up dog droppings. Pet waste must be removed; it could burn the turf. But resist doing anything more.
The snow load — about 90 days in a row of heavy, wet snow on the ground — produced matted, brown and rotting grass, or snow mold, Cue said.
“I'm so disappointed, as I'm sure I have plants that will never look the same if they survive,” said Roz Merrick, who lives in Omaha's Field Club neighborhood. “It will be a spring of frustrations for many gardeners.”
Merrick said she's a hobbyist gardener, not an expert, but she recognized trouble when she saw fuzzy gray mold that looks like something that's been in the refrigerator for months.
Cue said it's a sign that a lawn, or parts of it, may be gone.
After the lawn has dried out somewhat, rake up the dead growth and overseed, she said.
Landscaping needs a break, too.
As eager as gardeners may be to see green shoots in flower beds under the ubiquitous mats of leaves, it's too soon to remove all the leaf cover, Cue said. The cover protects new plants from frost, which is possible through early May.
“If you must, just pull back a small amount of mulch,” she said.
Cue also cautions against watering to wash off plants and flower beds, even if an area is contaminated by animal feces. The soil already is saturated.
Deep snow contributed to another problem: Critters were able to reach higher buds and tender branches of shrubs and trees.
But for all the bad news, the snow had its merits.
It insulated some plants, such as lavender, that normally don't survive a Midlands winter.
As early-season bulbs, including daffodils and grape hyacinths, begin to appear, appreciate them from a window if you can.
Just keep off the grass.
Contact the writer:
444-1059, rhonda.stansberry@owh.com
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