Damaged Plants Feeling Stressed Out . . .
Dr. Don C. Wilkerson, Professor & Extension Specialist
Texas AgriLife Extension
Department of Horticultural Sciences
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas

It’s hard to believe that Hurricane Ike came ashore about 2½ months ago. Eleven weeks into recovery mode and many established landscape plant materials are still not showing signs of life—most notably, the live oaks along Broadway on Galveston Island.

What’s really perplexing is the randomness of damage that occurred. Trees and shrubs at the same location may be fried in the front yard and not in the back. Your trees look terrible but your neighbors seem to be unaffected. Mother Nature is really messing with us, and trying to determine the best course of action for landscape recovery and renovation will require a basic understanding of the cause(s) of damage, as well as the best management practices for recovery.

Trying to diagnose special plant problems can sometimes require a thorough knowledge of plant physiology mixed with a healthy dose of crystal ball gazing. Unlike the folks at UTMB, we don’t have fancy CT scans or MRI’s to help figure out what’s going on. And, our patients can’t communicate information about their aches and pains (try getting a word out of an oleander). We rely as much on experience as we do hard data to determine the nature of most plant problems.

So why was the plant damage from Hurricane Ike so random? In my opinion (and it’s just that - “my opinion”), it all came down to stress. Stress is a term horticulturists use to describe a number of factors that negatively impact the health and vigor of a plant.

Stress can be caused from a variety of including drought, excessive heat (or cold), insect and disease infestations, air pollution, poor nutrition and the aging process—basically, many of the same factors that can predispose our bodies to health issues. Plants that were stressed going into the storm had a harder time surviving than plants that were in good condition. The greater the stress, the greater the damage.

Many plant materials throughout Galveston County and surrounding areas were already stressed from the lack of rain. Add our normal, high summer temperatures and you have an excellent recipe for plant stress. Now, for good measure, mix in a dose of hurricane force winds and prolonged saltwater flooding. Many established trees and shrubs simply couldn’t handle the additional stress and are now on the equivalent of life support.

So what to do? Cooler temperatures and rainfall will definitely help but here are some additional tips for getting damaged plants on the path to recovery.

ELIMINATE PLANT STRESS. Try not to drive or park on the root system of damaged trees and shrubs. Treat plants with TLC but don’t “love them to death” by over doctoring.

MONITOR SOIL MOISTURE but do not overwater. Overwatering will predispose plants to a variety of root diseases. However, regular deep watering during periods of dry weather will significantly aid in leaching excessive salts in flooded soil.

DO NOT APPLY FERTILIZERS in an attempt to stimulate new growth. Fertilizers are not a medicine for sick plants and applied improperly will do more harm than good. Fertilizers are salts. Fertilizers are salts—the same kind of salts that caused most of the damage from tidal flood waters in the first place.

GET YOUR SOIL TESTED. Dr. William M. Johnson, Galveston County Horticulturist with Texas AgriLife Extension, has made special arrangements with the soil testing laboratory at Texas A&M University in College Station to test samples for residual salts (at a much reduced cost). Soil test reports will also contain levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium as well as several other nutrients. Visit our website for details at: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston

BE PATIENT. Don’t expect some established trees and shrubs to show signs of life until spring.

For more information we invite you to visit our special Landscape Recovery and Renovation website given above. You’ll find a variety of Extension educational resources to assist in addressing landscape damage issues. Information is also provided on the soil testing campaign (including drop off sites) and a special webcast details many of the causes of landscape damage resulting from Hurricane Ike.

For more information contact:
Texas AgriLife Extension Service - Galveston County Office
5115 Highway 3
Dickinson, Texas 77539
(281) 534-3413, Ext. 1, 2

OR - visit our website