It was deja vu all over again as I surveyed my landscape over the weekend.
This time last year, we were puzzling over our polar vortex souvenirs -- reliably hardy evergreens that emerged in the spring with crispy brown needles, the result of dessication or winter burn, from all those bone-chilling temperatures and harsh winds.
Most of us probably dug up the evergreens that were clearly toast, with no healthy green needles. But there were a lot of half-and-half evergreens with a patchwork of brown and green. The plants were clearly alive, although no longer contributing much to the landscape.
I'm an optimist, so I gave my glass-half-full junipers the benefit of the doubt last year. Even though there were more brown branches than green ones, I didn't dig them up, but waited to see how they'd look this year.
Well, guess what. They look pretty darn awful.
And they occupy a high-profile spot in my front yard, so clearly I'm going to have to admit defeat this year, and replace them with something else.
But what?
How about a Black Hills spruce, a Sky High or Medora (both upright junipers) or Techny arborvitae? Those were the replacement evergreens suggested by Deb Lonnee, a horticulturist with Bailey Nurseries (www.baileynurseries.com).
