My four Viburnum Tinus shrubs seem to have died due to the harsh winter we've just had (and the 3-4 feet of snow that covered them for over a month). All the leaves are brown & shriveled, and only one plant shows one branch of green where the leaves didn't die. Is it possible that these shrubs will revive if I cut them back? I have to remove the dead branches because they are littering all our yards with dead leaves every time the wind picks up. Is there a special way to cut them back to help them, or should I just expect that they are done and plan for something else in this space? Thanks for your help.
Have multiple trashed specimens embracing more than one cultivar on Camano Island also. Most of these will be removed, I see no point in keeping something that may burn back again in future. If you wish to forge ahead with yours cut the dead parts off and keep the rest. New shoots can be expected to appear this year.
I thought my Viburnum tinus was toast, as it, too, had leaves that looked dead. However, I asked a professional gardener for advice. He said that the leaves were burned by the severe cold weather but that the plant itself was ok. This has proven to be the case. While there are still some dead leaves, lots of green ones are appearing - along with the sunshine. I am glad because this plant provides a nice screen at the back of the yard and it would have taken some time to get a new plant to the same height (about 10 feet). So, I will prune it to get rid of the worst of the burnt leaves and see how it does next year. For your ones, I guess you have to see how they respond to the next week of predicted warmth and sunshine and decide how important to your garden they are. Ron is probably right...they might burn again in the future, especially if this cold weather is a result of the pacific decadal oscillation..but don't all gardeners live in hope!
Interesting - proves southwest BC is definitely colder than Britain in winter; I've never seen any cold damage on Viburnum tinus even in the worst winters (and I'm at 55°N, too).
In general, I think you are correct...but, this was a particularly bad winter here...we had one or two nights at -11 celcius, which is several degrees colder than it usually gets - coupled with an extended period of more "normal" bad weather (-2 to -9). Our Canadian Climate Normals, which cover the period from 1971-2000 (it is a rolling 30 year average), say that we very rarely have temperatures below -10 celcius. The city of Vancouver is definitely a zone 8 but the microclimates even within the city differ a lot. It is hilly here and, if you are up higher, you are colder and may get snow when even a few blocks away will not. The farther from the water you live, the colder it will be in winter (and the warmer in summer). Climatologists have also identified a few weather patterns here on the West Coast...we have El Nino/La Nina years and we also have something called the Pacific decadal oscillation - all have something to do with the Pacific ocean currents. El Nino periods are warm for us; La Nina periods are cold. These are usually one or two year long patterns. The Pacific decadal oscillation is a 20-30 year cycle...and, sadly, climatologists say that we seem to be entering a cold cycle. So, all of us who were in zonal denial, planting zone 9 plants, are going to be out of luck!!!
Thanks for the comments. I think only one of the four may have survived, as it still has some green leaves and actually a bud or two. The others have nothing (yet) although I'll keep my fingers crossed with this 20 celcius couple of days we're having now. We are, as you mention cindys, on one of the hills farther from the water, and suffered a tremendous amount of snow this winter (on top of the -12 nights). I had also heard that we may be in for several years of colder winters, so I might have to plant something a little more hardy to replace the viburnum if they really have given up the ghost.
A famous English garden writer once wrote he was in a cold area because it sometimes got down to 20F. UK varies from colder than here to as mild as coastal California, depending on where you are. Too early to see much renewal.
The Scottish Highlands recorded -17°C this winter, which was reported to be the coldest temperature recorded in Britain for 9 years. Where I am, it didn't go below -5°C though.
I am afraid I may have dumped a couple of things prematurely then. I am holding onto an Abelia, hoping for signs of life sometime, on Ron's advice, but I threw out a Camellia sasanqua which had been in a pot, and several other minor things... but when one pulls it up the roots are just pathetic, and have not "taken" or simply gave up... truly dead in those cases, I think. Things sure are slow, and the hardy fuchsias are still dry brown clumps in my garden -- but Broadmead gets cold air, being high but shady, or if sunny, its windy...
As the roots go, so goes the top. If the roots look dead, the top will not be able to do anything. Plants in pots may lose the outer ring of new roots to cold but not show top damage, living on off of the surviving old roots in the center of the pot. This may cause some to overestimate the ability of specific plants to overwinter above the ground in unprotected containers. The lost young roots may manifest in slowed top growth the following season rather than death or defoliation of the top, so that the root damage is not noticed.
