Learn / Ask The Landscape Professional
My neighbor was told by someone to keep watering these arborvitaes and they would come back next year. Is that true?
Answer
Absolutely not true. These arborvitaes are dead and
should be removed immediately; let me explain why.
After Superstorm Sandy, many plants and shrubs
were killed by salt water, especially near the shore,
either by direct contact with the saltwater or from
wind-blown salt spray. Arborvitaes were especially
hard hit either by salt water or by wind damage.
Your neighbor's arborvitaes are an eyesore, they
are dangerous, and a major fire hazard if they are
near a house. Ledyard Fire Marshall Jim Mann
recently described the problem that fire departments
face all over the area. "People don't realize that dead
vegetation represents a serious fire hazard. In Ledyard,
we have a number of fires each year that get
started in landscapes by homeowners' or visitors' cigarettes
and backyard barbeques. Dead vegetation should be cleaned up and cleared
away". Leaves in the fall should also be removed
to a safe distance away from
the house and are potential sources of ignition.
It's not only dead shrubs and plants that put your
house at risk, but seriously overgrown foundation
plantings as well. Many times plantings are way
too close to houses (even touching) and over
roofs! There is always a certain amount of dry
material that exists under live shrubs that could
catch fire.
So the message is - get your landscape under
control and help fireproof your house. Call Sprigs
& Twigs if we can help in any way. We can:
remove dead trees and plant new ones, remove overgrown landscapes and
replace them with new low-maintenance shrubs,
perennials and trees and clean up your gardens and
leaves in the fall. Now is an especially good time of year
to take action.
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About Linda Lillie
Linda K. Lillie is the President of Sprigs & Twigs, Inc, the premier
landscape design and maintenance, tree care, lawn care, stonework, and carpentry
service provider in southeastern Connecticut since 1997. She is a graduate of
Connecticut College in Botany, a Connecticut Master Gardener and a national
award winning landscape designer for her landscape design and landscape installation work.
