Tropical Storm Helene brought WNC heavy rains and high winds, damaging many homes and landscapes. Fallen or damaged trees may require professional removal (see How to Choose a Tree Care Company to Aid in Disaster Clean-Up). Landslide-inundated properties may need rebuilding (see Steep Slope/High Elevation & Protected Ridge Application for construction on steep slopes). Expert advice is required to remedy severe erosion undermining structures, driveways, and roads. Wind-splattered debris inundated even the least affected landscapes, so all home gardeners have decisions to make to move forward after the storm.

First steps
Storm-damaged yards require clean up and now that they’ve dried out (maybe even too much!) it is time to finish that process:

• Clearing branches, raking leaves off lawns, removing any uprooted or clearly dead plants or shrubs, although time-consuming, is the easy part.
• Removing mud is more difficult—and if it was deposited by streams or rivers flooding, you need to be careful about handling both the mud and any inundated plants because of potential biological and/or chemical contamination (see more info for more details)
• Next, take time cutting back damaged plants, pruning broken branches on trees or shrubs—if you are certain you want to keep them.
• Finally, water disturbed areas—do not fertilize—and replace mulch, if needed.

Restoring or rethinking?
After you’ve dealt with any hazards and some preliminary clean-up, survey your remaining landscape: is it battered or unrecognizable? Can you restore it with some tweaking, or do you need to rethink it?

In assessing how well your landscape weathered the storm, include:
Stormwater management. Did your landscape keep much of the rain from harming plantings or hardscape? Did it contain water until it could be absorbed rather than flooding or eroding or running off onto others’ property?
Wind resistance. The winds uprooted many trees in saturated ground and snapped off others. If you lost no trees or only one or two, your landscape may be more sheltered from winds, or more wind resistant.
Susceptibility to landslides. Did you have and significant slippage of earth on slopes on your property? Steep slopes in Buncombe County are susceptible to landslides. Although ordinances now prohibit new building in areas susceptible to landslides, some existing properties have medium to high landslide risks (see County GIS).

Things to consider in evaluating how to restore or rethink your landscape are:
Changes in sun exposure. If you or your neighbors lost many trees—or structures that provided shade—you may now have a full sun garden where you once had deep shade. Even more limited changes in sun exposure may adversely affect your remaining plantings.
Changes in wind exposure. Similarly, losses in trees, shrubs, and other established plantings may mean your landscape is now even more exposed to winds.

Identify landscape practices that reinforce what worked or remediate what didn’t
Stormwater management practices that can reduce runoff and erosion:

• Adding water retention features
  • Rain barrels
  • Rain gardens
• Reducing hardscape in favor of more areas to absorb water
• Terracing slopes
• Slowing down water with the root systems of native grasses, herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees
• Planting selections and practices resistant to flooding and wind damage.

Trees:

• Wind-resistant small trees such as American holly (Ilex opaca) dogwood (Cornus florida),
• Moderately wind resistant larger trees, such as black gum (Nyssa biflora), hickory (Carya spp.), persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), river birch (Betula nigra), and shumard oak (Quercus shumardii)
• Researchers recommend planting groups—not rows—of at least five trees of different types spaced at least 10 feet apart to increase wind resistance.
• Many native trees will survive brief flooding (for flood tolerance)

Plants:

The North Carolina Extension Gardener Toolbox allows you to search for plants meeting any criteria you select, such as native plants, those that tolerate wet sites, those for different sun exposures and so on. You can also use the Design Gallery feature to look at how others have used plants in their landscapes.

As we move forward…
We hope that while restoring or rethinking your landscape you’ll also grow your understanding and love of gardening. Extension experts and Master Gardeners^SM are here to help!

 Article written by Debbie Green, Extension Master Gardener^SM Volunteer

For more information:

• Handling Flooding and Storm Damage in the Landscape
• Managing Flood Damaged Yards and Gardens
• Planting Trees with Hurricanes in Mind
• Preventing and Managing Storm Damage to Trees

Learn more about the Extension Master Gardener^SM Volunteers in Buncombe County and the many programs and educational resources they offer to home gardeners at their website.