The recent holidays blew in with a winter storm that will not soon be forgotten. Here in Tennessee, we missed much of the snowfall that wreaked havoc across the Midwest and Northeast. However, wind and cold temperatures packed a punch for our power grids and landscapes over the Christmas weekend. Now we find ourselves starting 2023 with many questions about the extent of damage and next steps for our lawns and landscapes. Before we get to action steps, let’s recap our recent freeze event.

It has been mighty cold lately. Doesn’t matter where you live, the temperatures have dipped. And early, too. There have been reasons given, most of them summed up with the initials c.c. (I will not get into that discussion!) But even over the past four decades, the mercury had done similar nose dives at various inopportune times. We expected after moving from Wyoming to Tennessee that such dips wouldn’t happen. After all, Tennessee has a mild climate. Oh, boy, were we wrong.