The first week of April’s been dry and cold.
Area grasses, shrubs and trees are suffering through a triple threat, according to the University of Arkansas Extension Service.
Boone County Extension Agent Scott Squires said plants are stressed because of the weekend frost and freezing temperatures, and the growing drought. “They have several things going against them.
“Any TLC you can give them would be good,” he advised residents.
First the freeze. “It was worse than we thought because it was so many nights.”
After a high temperature of 80 degrees Tuesday, the thermometer steadily plummeted to official lows in Harrison of 34 degrees Wednesday, 30 degrees Thursday, 26 degrees Friday, 23 degrees Saturday, 24 degrees Sunday and 33 degrees early this morning.
Squires said he saw dead persimmon leaves driving into work this morning. That could be the tip of the proverbial iceberg. “I’m sure fruit trees got it.
“The trees should come back, but if they had bloomed and leafed out, it did some damage” to their fruit.
He said some white oaks have not put any leaves on and should bear fruit.
Squires said he lives on a hill in the Lead Hill area, and his thermometer showed low readings of 27 to 28 degrees with 30 degrees Sunday morning.
The county agent said the average last frost date is April 10, and he doesn’t put out warm weather plants before April 15 or 20.
“Don’t get in a big hurry,” he advised gardeners. “For overall production, wait until soil temperatures get up.
“You may slip by one year, but a hard freeze the first or middle of April is a pretty common occurrence.
“We had frost at my house, and I’m sure some low-lying areas had colder temperatures and heavy frost.”
Squires said he believed the frost could have caused more damage than the freezing temperatures. He noted that Fenton’s Strawberries started spraying water on their plants Wednesday and continued through the weekend in an attempt to protect the fruit against frost.
He wasn’t sure how strawberry plants or area blueberry plants survived the frost.
Squires noted that Bermuda grassed was “real pretty and green. It bit back the grass and may have damaged some clovers.
“We shouldn’t have any permanent damage.
“I don’t know whether the dry conditions helped or hurt us,” he continued. “The drought may be worse than the freeze.
“At my house, the drought is as bad as last year. If we don’t get soil moisture, we could have more problems than with the cold.
“Since they also are stressed from the cold temperatures, disease can hit them hard.
“As dry as it is, you may want to water, especially young trees, when they get through the stress stages.”