Prepare Your Trees and Shrubs for Winter

Sub-zero winter temperatures and drying winds can be hard on our urban trees.  Here are some tips to help them weather the cold.

To Enhance Tree and Shrub Health

• Water trees until the ground is frozen, especially in drought conditions.
• Prune trees and large shrubs in the winter to minimize plant stress, schedule an appointment with an arborist to address any pruning needs.
• Finely mulch organic matter (leaves, grass clippings, etc) and incorporate into soil.  This will add nutrition to the soil and reduce the number of disease spores that may infect new growth in the spring
• Fertilize where soil nutrients are limited.  An arborist can help determine what type of fertilizers to use.
• Avoid using de-icing salts near trees

We strongly recommend to those with oak and elm trees, that they address any pruning needs during the winter season.  Research has shown that pruning these species during the warmer growing season makes them more susceptible to deadly infections by oak wilt and Dutch elm disease.

While the infection risk is not as high with diseases and insects on other species of trees, winter pruning is advantageous in that any pests such as branch canker pathogens, or branch boring insects are removed from the site, reducing the potential for re-infestation.

Some advantages of winter (dormant) pruning are:

• structural problems that need to be addressed by pruning can easily be seen without the leaves getting in the way
• diseases and insects that may infect trees through pruning wounds are dormant
• frozen ground protects the turf, landscape, plants and tree roots from damage
• removing limbs during dormancy helps preserve a tree energy reserves for later use

To Reduce Damage from Snow and Wind

• Spray arborvitae and conifers with antitranspirants to reduce winter damage to foliage from frigid winds and help them retain moisture.
• Wrap arborvitae with burlap to prevent damage from snow loads

To Control Damage from Wildlife

• Use plastic tree guards to give added protection from chewing animals. Make sure to install them at ground level and remove as soon as temperatures start to warm
• Pull mulch away from the tree trunk (mulch provides cover for voles to strip bark from trees)
• Spray rodent and deer repellents on susceptible trees and shrubs

These steps will help protect to your trees over the winter and provide them a healthy start in the spring.

Please contact us with any questions or if you would like to schedule any winter preparation treatments or dormant pruning.  Please call us at 952-922-3810 or click here.

 

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