How to Care for Landscape After a Freeze

Feel the soil. If it feels dry to the touch, water the plants. Do not flood the soil, but moisten it. The water will help revive the freeze-damaged plants. Water any plants grown in containers to help unfreeze the soil around the plants' root systems.

Avoid removing any leaves or stems that have sustained damage. The leaves will help insulate the plant if another freeze occurs.

Cut plants with fleshy roots such as gingers, firespikes, cannas, begonias, banana plants and four o’clocks to the ground. Dispose of the damaged foliage. The plants will return in the spring.

Dig up and dispose of any grafted plants such as citrus trees that have been killed by the freeze. The plants will resprout from the root system, but the new growth will not be the same as the tree that was grafted onto the roots.

Remove the entire spear leaf of a palm tree if it is completely killed after the freeze. Apply a copper fungicide to the palm tree's bud to prevent fungal infections. Follow the directions on the fungicide's label for application instructions. The University of Florida IFAS Extension suggests avoiding the use of water-soluble copper sulfates.