How Extreme Weather Impacts Plants: Causes, Responses, and Solutions

This post examines how increasingly extreme weather — from multi-year droughts to abrupt freeze-thaw cycles, scorching heat waves, and intense rainfall and flooding — is reshaping practical gardening.

Drawing on three decades of horticultural experience, I summarize the main stresses plants face, explain the visible damage you may be seeing this spring, and offer clear, actionable strategies to help your garden recover and build resilience.

Table of Contents

What extreme weather is doing to gardens

More volatile seasonal patterns create overlapping stresses: prolonged drought weakens plants, sudden winter thaws followed by hard freezes kill tender new growth, and intense rain events saturate soils and spread disease.

The compound effects result in poorer growth, reduced fruit quality, and a higher incidence of pests and pathogens.

Drought: slow decline, fast consequences

Droughts reduce leaf area, limit flowering and fruit set, and deplete soil fertility.

Water-stressed plants allocate resources away from root growth and defense, making them more vulnerable to insects and disease.

Practical drought defenses:

Mulch heavily to conserve moisture and moderate soil temperature.

Water at the base of plants early morning or late evening using drip or soaker hoses to reduce evaporation.

Group plants with similar water needs to avoid over- or under-watering.

Favor native and drought-adapted species that are acclimated to local rainfall patterns.

Freeze-thaw cycles and late-winter volatility

When winter ends with warm spells that prompt new growth, then a return to extreme cold, newly formed buds and shoots can be killed by frost.

This is why you may see browned leaves on laurels, pachysandra, and damaged crepe myrtles come spring.

How to reduce freeze damage

Methods that work:

Wrap vulnerable shrubs with burlap or horticultural fleece during expected freezes.

Use row covers for small beds and move container plants indoors or to sheltered locations.

Apply mulch to insulate root zones and avoid late-season pruning that stimulates tender growth.

Heat waves, pests and plant stress

Extreme heat accelerates transpiration, delays flowering and fruit set, and creates conditions conducive to pests and fungal pathogens.

Heat can also compound drought effects, straining irrigation systems and forcing gardeners into emergency watering regimes.

Managing during hot spells

Key tactics:

Water deeply and infrequently at the root zone rather than misting foliage.

Avoid heavy fertilization during heat waves — it can push tender growth that struggles to survive the stress.

Delay transplanting and major soil disturbance until temperatures moderate.

Flooding and waterlogged soils

Excess water suffocates roots, leaches nutrients, and promotes fungal diseases.

Floods can also erode topsoil and redistribute contaminants.

Design fixes for excess water

Landscape strategies:

Install raised beds to improve drainage for sensitive plants.

Create rain gardens or swales to capture runoff and recharge groundwater more slowly.

Use cover crops and organic amendments to improve soil structure and infiltration.

Pests, sooty mold, and gardener safety

Invasive sap-sucking insects such as spotted lanternfly and tuliptree scale excrete honeydew that fosters sooty mold, which blocks light and reduces photosynthesis.

Controlling these pests helps both canopy and understory plants recover.

Gardeners must also protect their own health: work during cooler hours, stay hydrated, and use appropriate protective gear when clearing debris after floods.

This helps avoid exposure to pathogens and contaminated water.

Here is the source article for this story: Understanding how extreme weather affects plants