Get to the Root of Resiliency
Back in July, Hurricane Beryl’s surprisingly strong winds left behind lots of leaning and fallen trees at the Garden, as it did all around the metropolitan area. According to Horticulture Manager Brent Moon, the Garden also witnessed approximately 20 complete failures, where the entire tree blew over.
Storm Recovery Takes a True Team Effort
The entire Garden staff is especially grateful for the willingness of volunteers to assist in the wake of a storm that left most with clean-up work of their own.
“We had a lot of support from the community through donations and volunteers who started showing up almost immediately to help with cleanup,” Moon said. “All the little things like leaves and twigs that get blown into the beds must be pulled out by hand, so having more people helps a lot.”
In addition to the local Garden enthusiasts who came to the rescue, teams from other botanical gardens in the region also lent their expertise and support.
“We had a team from Shangri La Botanical Gardens in the Beaumont area visit to talk to us about how they prepare and recover from these types of storms, because they’ve been hit by many. Another team from the San Antonio Botanical Garden provided some hands-on help with cleanup, so we feel like we’ve gotten a lot of assistance from our peers,” added Moon.
Healthy Plants, Better Outcomes
From backyards around town to the curated beds and natural ecosystems of the Garden, the focus has shifted to resiliency and enhancing the health of the plants and trees that made it through the storm.
“I always say that healthy plants are certainly much, much better equipped to survive a storm or basically anything Mother Nature can throw at them,” Moon said. “If you never do any kind of preventive care to your trees, then they are more likely to fail, and working with a good certified arborist who knows how to prune them correctly is key.”
Moon also emphasized the role that proper planting plays in the long-term health of our flora. He has some simple steps anyone can take to improve viability when adding new items, particularly trees, to their landscaping.
“If trees are kept in pots too long, you get all these circling roots, and it’s important to get in there and tear the root ball up and tease those roots out,” he said. “Make sure no roots are circling close to the trunk, because they can choke the tree by disrupting the flow of water and nutrients, causing problems down the line.”
Because this tree was planted slightly too high, you can see the circling roots that result when trees are kept in a pot for too long.
“Root flare” seen slightly above grade, with roots radiating out from the trunk, is desirable.
Moon suggests that gardeners who are looking for plants that can adapt to the fast-changing Houston climate focus on native species. In addition, he says that “a little TLC” will go a long way to encouraging plants to thrive after the stress of a big storm.
“It is important to provide some aftercare following a hurricane. A little extra watering, mulch, and humates* can be very helpful to them.”
While he acknowledged that visitors may notice more staked trees than before the hurricane, Moon invites everyone to plan a visit soon to witness the Garden’s recovery.
“The Garden is a lovely place for the community, and I’m so proud of its resiliency since Beryl.”
*humates are salts of humic acid, which is a combination of organic substances created as a result of the decomposition of plant and animal tissues that have been compressed in the earth’s soil