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Horticulturist: Act on flooded landscapes and protect surviving plants

Dan Gill

Turf, shrubs and herbaceous plants submerged by floodwaters last month are unlikely to survive, according LSU AgCenter horticulturist Dan Gill. Gill says now is the time to carefully assess flood-affected landscapes. He says plant roots get the oxygen they need from air spaces in the soil, but in a flood roots are deprived of the oxygen and may drown. 

“When the roots are deprived of oxygen, they actually begin to shut down and stop working. That means the plants begin to lose the ability to absorb the water, even though there’s water in the soil. This can lead to death,” Gill said.

He says shrubs that show no green tissue below the bark when scratched and have no growth shoots are probably dead. He recommends re-sodding to replace the grass.

“I know that’s expensive and labor intensive. But when you re-sod you have an instant, new lawn. You don’t have to worry about weeds coming up the way you do with seeds, or birds eating the seeds, or the seeds washing away,” Gill said.

Gill thinks back to the aftermath of Katrina. He encourages heavy equipment operators to carefully tread around trees to minimize damage. He says many trees that survived Katrina floodwaters were ultimately destroyed by bulldozers in the cleanup process. The magnolia is the one tree that is most vulnerable to floodwaters. He says other trees species should be OK. 

Chuck Smith brings more than 30 years' broadcast and media experience to Red River Radio. He began his career as a radio news reporter and transitioned to television journalism and newsmagazine production. Chuck studied mass communications at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and motion picture / television production at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has also taught writing for television at York Technical College in Rock Hill, South Carolina and video / film production at Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport.