Coastal Region – Glen Payne
Cold Damage in the Lowcountry
Plants can be damaged during winter when temperatures drop quickly. In coastal South Carolina, over the last 2 weeks, temperatures dropped more than 30 degrees. Ice began to accumulate on the ground, and then snow blanketed the Lowcountry. Fortunately, outdoor plants had an opportunity to harden off and become acclimatized. Temperatures had dipped to near freezing in previous weeks, giving plants time to provide a natural defense to the cold. This gradual cooling off kept plants from being severely damaged by a quick drop in temperature accompanied by high winds along the coast.
Frozen Boxwood.
Glen Payne, ©2025, Clemson Extension
Frozen Chinese Palm.
Glen Payne, ©2025, Clemson Extension
Ways to help your plants before a freeze:
- Cover them with burlap
- Add 2-3 inches of mulch to unprotected roots https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/mulch/
- Avoid late-season fertilization of outdoor plants after November. This keeps new growth from emerging during periods of cold.
What to do after a freeze:
- Allow leaves to remain on plants for now and evaluate their health over the next few weeks.
- Hold off on fertilization after a freeze. Fertilization and leaf removal can cause buds to break out of dormancy. This new growth could be susceptible to another frost in the future, causing more stress on the plant as it recovers. https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/cold-damage/
What Else Can I Look for After the Freeze?
- Inspect for stem slitting, broken limbs and stems, and damaged bark.
- Look for bark splitting, particularly on the southern side of trees, where the outer bark heats up quickly, expanding during the day, splitting outer cambium cell walls. Then, at night, quickly cooling temperatures cause the contraction of inner cells. This causes the bark to split. Sometimes, trees can be seen with white paint that has been applied to lessen the chance of bark splitting. This works by the white paint deflecting hot sun rays which can be reflected off the snow and ice.
Spring is right around the corner, and we should all be glad that the cold isn’t here to stay. Stay warm & cozy!
Midlands Region – Carmen Ketron
Patience with Freeze Damage
- The recent frigid temperatures and snowstorms will impact home landscapes in the coming months. However, the key to garden recovery is patience and careful observation.
- Hold off on pruning damaged plants until spring reveals the full extent of winter damage. What appears dead now may still harbor living tissue beneath.
Watch for frost cracks, distinctive fissures that typically appear on the southern sides of young or smooth-barked trees. These cracks signal areas needing special attention.
Leave blackened perennial foliage in place. This damaged top growth protects potentially viable crowns beneath until spring warmth returns.
Monitor warm-season lawns for ‘winterkill’ damage, particularly in areas where temperatures dropped below 20 °F.
Winter’s Hidden Opportunities
- Brighten indoor spaces this Valentine’s Day with florist’s cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum). Take care to place them in a location with indirect light, away from heat sources, and focus watering around the edge of their pots to avoid tuber rot.
- Consider forcing hardy bulbs indoors for spring color.
- Enjoy outdoor spring flowering bulbs such as daffodils, hyacinths, and crocuses. Remember to let the foliage naturally die back to ensure next year’s display.
Lawn Season Begins
- Prepare for the first preemergence herbicide application when forecasts show four consecutive days of 65-70 °F air temperatures.
- Time this initial treatment for late February or early March, depending on local conditions.
- Plan for a second application 8-9 weeks later in the season for comprehensive weed prevention.
Daffodils are some of the first spring flowering plants to brighten up dreary February days in South Carolina.
Carmen Ketron, ©2025, Clemson Extension
Forcing bulbs like these tulips in a hurricane vase is a fun way to get your garden fix in the middle of winter.
Carmen Ketron, ©2025, Clemson Extension
Winter frost damage of tender and tropical plants like this Colocasia is typical when temperatures drop.
Carmen Ketron, ©2025, Clemson Extension
Unprecedented snow and ice leave South Carolina gardeners in the Midlands to improvise, such as using snow blowers to clear walkways.
Carmen Ketron, ©2025, Clemson Extension
Upstate Region- Jordan Franklin
February is often a transition from the bitter cold of winter to the first glimpses of spring. It is an excellent time to begin preparing for a new growing season.
Pruning
- This month is for pruning many ornamental and fruit trees, shrubs, and vines. Prune ornamental trees and shrubs that flower after May 1. Pruning spring-flowering shrubs that flower before May 1 will remove the blooms before they open. Many fruit trees, shrubs, and vines produce fruit on current-year growth. For more information about pruning, visit the HGIC Pruning pages.
- This is also a good time to clean up spent flowering perennials and ornamental grasses before new growth begins in the spring. This task serves to tidy up the garden and remove potential insect and disease problems that may be harbored in debris from last year’s growth.
Winter Lawn Care Tips
- February is nearing the last time to fertilize tall fescue lawns for the season. March 15 is the cut-off for fertilizing tall fescue. Fertilization after March 15 can result in disease problems during the summer.
- Hold off fertilizing warm-season turfgrasses such as bermudagrass, centipedegrass, and zoysiagrass. It’s still a little too early to fertilize these lawns. Wait until the beginning of May to avoid potential cold damage caused by early fertilization.
- Late February is an ideal time to apply pre-emergent herbicide to control summer annual weeds in cold– and warm-season lawns.
- In general, steer clear of pre-emergent weed & feed fertilizer products. They can be applied to tall fescue this month, but do not apply them to warm-season grasses as the timing of weed control (now) and fertilization (early May) do not coincide and could lead to lawn damage.
Muscadine vine being pruned.
Paul Thompson, ©2021, Clemson Extension
Left side of muscadine plant has been pruned, the right side has not.
Paul Thompson, ©2021, Clemson Extension
Close-up of muscadine cordon after pruning.
Paul Thompson, ©2021, Clemson Extension
