<font color=red>QUICK TIPS</font> Post-Storm Note: It's Not as Bad as it Looks

A landscape cloaked in ice is a sorrowful-looking thing, with trees and shrubs bent or broken under the added weight. And sub-freezing temperatures are tough on human caretakers of gardens, too — it's hard not to want to do something for plants obviously in distress.

But right now, in the aftermath of the recent cold snap in the Midwest and Plains states, there is little remedial activity to take on behalf of recovering plants, says Skip Richter, Travis County,Texas horticulturist.

"I think most things are going to be OK," he said. Only desert dwellers and some natives that thrive in dry, rocky soil might be lost, more victims of the sudden moisture surge than cold temperatures, Richter says.

And even those, if planted in well-drained locations, should make it through just fine. "It just didn't get quite cold enough to do a lot of damage here. All the fruit trees are still asleep. Some things like Brugmansia have died to the ground, but that's normal for them."

Most tree limbs resume their normal position after the ice melts. For those that don't, now is a good time to prune dangling branches that impede foot traffic or threaten to graze the roof. Any cracked limbs should also be removed.

Two prime candidates for brittle limbs, Richter says, are Arizona ash, a landscaping tree that is short-lived and ill-suited for Central Texas, and the opportunistic hackberry.

Tree pruning tips also can be found at www.treefolks.org in a downloadable Tree Guide or at www.treesaregood.org.