Community Corner

Winter Damage, Low Ph May Keep Your Plants From Growing

The Agricultural Experiment Station provides free services to find out what's killing your plants.

The unique pleasure of spring lies in the budding of flowers, the absence of snow and your lawn's increasingly green and lush appearance. However, not everyone is so lucky to have his or her greenery blossom on cue.

Whether shrubbery appears to have fatigued in its fight against the winter doldrums or the lawn is struggling to combat the brown spots that seem to increase year by year, there are a myriad of issues that may contribute to a lack of growth. Enter the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES).

CAES conducts research on weeds, insects, plant diseases, food safety, water quality, ticks, water quality and soil diseases, in addition to running thousands of bee colonies, hundreds of nurseries and conducting inspections.

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Despite all of this, its staff hasn’t forgotten about everyday Connecticut residents. Founded in 1875 as the nation's first experiment station of its kind, CAES provides free services for both companies and residents to help overcome the challenges plants face while trying to bloom once again.

According to Dr. James Lamondia, chief scientist and plant pathologist at CASE's Windsor-based Valley Laboratory, plants are faced with a particularly tough task this spring, following a series of poor conditions in consecutive years.

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"A lot of the trees and landscape plants have been stressed for the past couple of years because last year was really droughty, the year before was very wet, and both of those are damaging," Lamondia said.

"It's a bad combination," Lamondia said, adding that when there is too much water in the soil, there is limited oxygen for plants.

"The roots can drown, essentially. A lot of the roots that are deeper in the soil die back just because they didn't have enough oxygen in the soil. The roots that were left were the more shallow roots. And last year, we had a drought, and the shallow soil dried out," he said.

This may leave property owners feeling compelled to water, water, water, but Lamondia urges lawn care and plant enthusiasts to show some restraint.

While plants need water for growth, diseases also enjoy wet conditions, Lamondia said. In particular, the Valley Laboratory has seen a significant number of diseases that are associated with automatic water systems.

What some may do, Lamondia explained, is run their automatic system for fifteen minutes each day.

"It would be better off to water once a week and water deep enough so that it went into the soil and got down to the deeper roots and encouraged deeper root growth rather than just the surface,” he said.

Diseases like wet conditions, he added. "If it stays wet for even a couple of hours, it can get an infection," Lamondia said.

Whether a lawn or plant is receiving the proper amount of water is often the first question on the minds of those wanting to enhance their property's aesthetics, but potential problems run deeper:

  • PH Levels - Lamondia said a lawn's ph level (is it too acidic or is its alkaline consistency high) is the most important thing for residents to be concerned with. Levels can decrease over time, but the Valley Laboratory can help by analyzing a soil sample to determine the proper amount of lime necessary to raise the ph level. You can bring in a soil sample to be analyzed free of charge.
  • Nutrient Levels - Yes, plants need their daily vitamins as well, and it can often plague lawns, but it’s more of a concern for large commercial property owners, according to Lamondia.
  • Winter Damage - Cold winds will often cause tissue damage to plants, but they can also be harmed by the weight of melting snow. Lamondia says that much of the heavy snowfall over the past year melted from the bottom. Because of this top-heavy snow to weigh down on branches, causing them to break.
  • Sun Damage - While winter was in full effect this past season, we also experienced a wealth of sunshine. According to Lamondia, in many instances the sun reflected off of the snow and back onto plant life, causing tissue damage.

But fear not.

"The area we're in is probably some of the best agricultural soil in New England," Lamondia said.

For this reason, it shouldn't be a problem for most to get their lawn up to speed.


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