How far south must you go to get away from the dead winter look? (landscaping, live)
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In the eastern part of the US is central Florida on south the only place where the grass doesn't turn a dormant brown color for the winter? What about trees? Do deciduous trees north of Florida all lose their leaves?
Does the deep south have the dead winter look, even near the gulf coast?
We just returned from driving from Michigan down to Florida and back via I-75, so we passed through OH, KY, TN, GA, and FL. It didn't look green or non-dormant until extreme southern GA to northern FL. Everything from roughly north of Valdosta and on up still looked dead and wintery.
I can't speak for most of the Gulf Coast, as the only part of it we have ever been to in during the winter is FL where of course, it is green and summery looking year round. We did drive over to Savannah on the Atlantic Coast, though, and it looked a little more lively, mainly because of the live oaks (which don't drop their leaves all at once like deciduous trees in more northern locales do, but just sort of shed a few at a time continuously, leaving a green canopy) and the palmetto trees. The grass looked a bit greener too.
If they're deciduous, don't they have to lose their leaves? By definition?
Not all at once. Lose the leaves at some point in the winter, than start growing them again a few weeks later. Here's a photo I took near San Francisco December 18. Deciduous trees still had leaves.
not far away, the nearby valley had cooler nights = bare deciduous trees.
In the Pacific Northwest, grass is usually green for most of the winter.
In the eastern part of the US is central Florida on south the only place where the grass doesn't turn a dormant brown color for the winter? What about trees? Do deciduous trees north of Florida all lose their leaves? Does the deep south have the dead winter look, even near the gulf coast?
No not so much. It stays pretty green year round except for when we get an unusually hard freeze like we did this past winter.
Atlanta definitely has the dead winter look. Honestly you will find the dead winter look well into central Florida. Even Tampa has trees that look dead and straggly in winter. Naples doesn't though I can say for certain because of the abundance of Palm trees.
We just returned from driving from Michigan down to Florida and back via I-75, so we passed through OH, KY, TN, GA, and FL. It didn't look green or non-dormant until extreme southern GA to northern FL. Everything from roughly north of Valdosta and on up still looked dead and wintery.
I can't speak for most of the Gulf Coast, as the only part of it we have ever been to in during the winter is FL where of course, it is green and summery looking year round. We did drive over to Savannah on the Atlantic Coast, though, and it looked a little more lively, mainly because of the live oaks (which don't drop their leaves all at once like deciduous trees in more northern locales do, but just sort of shed a few at a time continuously, leaving a green canopy) and the palmetto trees. The grass looked a bit greener too.
^^^ THIS! And while Savannah and coastal Georgia does have lots of "green" during the winter due to the abundance of live oaks, palms and pine trees, there's lots of drab, gray, dead-looking stuff mixed in. For one thing, the marsh grasses all turn a deep gray-brown during the winter. In a few weeks, they'll be a vibrant light green again and then deep blue-green until next fall!
BTW: The extreme cold appears to have taken at least SOME slight toll on the coastal regions of Georgia. Quite a few landscaping palms (not the natural ones, but ones that were planted) are showing freeze damage and signs of distress. And the azaleas are few and far between this year, at least thus far. I think that might be because gardeners cut back the freeze-damaged parts to save the plants, and that's the parts that had the spring buds on them. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
If they're deciduous, don't they have to lose their leaves? By definition?
You are right. I should have wrote broadleaf trees
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You are right. I should have wrote broadleaf trees
