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Standard bay damaged by snow

joe.shimminjoe.shimmin Posts: 214
in Plants
Hi all,
Snow Sat on my 3/4 standard bays recently and has damaged them. Will they bounce back if I hard prune them? They’re definitely dead up top so I don’t think I’ve got much to lose.
Thanks, Joe

Posts

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited February 2023
    @joe.shimmin I would do nothing for now we could still experience more bad weather and the damaged leaves will still offer protection. Always good to remove heavy snow from evergreens if practical. 
    If they were mine here in the south midlands I would wait until late April and give them a chance to recover before any drastic pruning. Hopefully that will encourage new growth that will have time to grow over the summer months.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    Mine are as bad @joe.shimmin but I won't do anything to mine until April at the earliest I agree with @GardenerSuze comments
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @joe.shimmin Something else you could do in the spring is to top dress. Gently clear away the top few inches of compost and replace with some fresh.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It's not snow that's caused it - it's freeze/thaw. A few inches of snow would do no harm at all, and anything heavier than a few inches [ 2 to 3 inches ] would break stems/branches, which is why it should always be cleared from evergreens. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • joe.shimminjoe.shimmin Posts: 214
    Thanks guys, I’ll wait til April 👍🏻
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited February 2023
    Snow is your friend.  Unless it's the weight.

    There are other recent threads on bay trees.    One of mine, under a fleece, suffered similar damage to yours.  I suspect that a late pruning led to late growth that was more susceptible to frost.  So protect early for this coming winter.

    A general gardening tip:  weeds compete for food and water.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Wait and just cut off the dead bits when the weather warms up a bit . Then wait again before you do anything drastic. You have a better chance of keeping the shape then.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • BlueBirderBlueBirder Posts: 212
    When I was a child my mum had a beautiful bay shrub that suffered. Most of the plant looked like that. I thought it was dead but by late spring it had lots of new green growth and the dead parts were falling off by itself. I'd follow everyone else's advice and leave it, for now at least :)

  • joe.shimminjoe.shimmin Posts: 214
    Thanks. Will do. I’ll be patient 👍🏻
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