By Mike Graham, CLP, CLT, CA

With the official beginning of spring already passed, many property managers are eagerly awaiting the explosion of colors that is just around the corner.

Those life giving "April Showers" provide needed moisture and nutrients that help plants break winter dormancy and begin spring growth. Unfortunately, prolonged spring rains over the past seven years have led to saturated soil conditions.

The extra water provided by Mother Nature, in turn, is beginning to have a long term negative impact on commonly planted trees and shrubs.

The condition is known as "wet feet" (feet = roots). As unbelievable as it may seem, too much water during the critical spring growth period (May and June) can severely damage or kill susceptible plants. Too much water causes the plant to die. In a nutshell, excess rainwater leads to a lack of soil oxygen by filling in small air voids in the soil.

Without oxygen, roots cannot respire which allows the plant to take up surrounding ground water. Signs of a plant suffering from "wet feet" are identical to plants under stress from drought conditions.

Symptoms to look for include:

1. Withering leaves.
2. Minor tip growth.
3. Yellowing of foliage.
4. Branch die back.
5. Brown and black root discoloration.

Unfortunately even if the plants survive the water logged conditions, opportunistic fungi such as Armillaria and Phytophera root rot, can easily invade the stressed plant and kill it.

Some of the more susceptible plants to "wet feet" include:

1. Sugar Maples
2. Lindens
3. Yews
4. Forsythia
5. Dogwoods
6. Burning Bush
7. Cotoneaster

There are no quick fixes for "wet feet" syndrome. Newer landscape sites, those one to fifteen years old, are more susceptible to having this condition occur. For long term control sites must improve drainage and lighten the soil with a mixture of organic material and sand. The final key component is to replace susceptible trees and shrubs with plants that are uniquely suited for prolonged wet soil conditions.

Listed below are trees and shrubs that thrive in soggy soils:

1. Swamp White Oak
2. Green Ash
3. Alder
4. River Birch
5. Willows
6. Larch
7. Tamarack
8. Hybrid Elms
9. Red Maples
10. White Fir
11. Witchhazel
12. Bayberry
13. Amelanchiers
14. Sumac