If you live in a cold-weather climate, paying a little extra attention to your trees and shrubs in fall can give your plants the protection they’ll need to survive the winter without damage.
Winter can be harsh on trees and shrubs. Carefully clear heavy snow and ice loads from the branches of your trees to avoid potential hazard to your plants. (Wear a helmet and protective eyewear for safety.)
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/Donna Krischan
Wrapping tree trunks can help protect them from the freeze-thaw cycles of winter.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
If fall rains in your region are sparse, give plants a deep soaking as the temperatures begin to drop, but before the ground freezes. Evergreens will particularly benefit from this treatment, since their leaves continue to release some moisture even in winter, making them especially susceptible to drying winds.
Newly planted trees and shrubs are less able to withstand cold temperatures than mature trees and shrubs that have been in the ground for several seasons. However, you can protect young trees and shrubs – as well as trees and shrubs that are marginally hardy in your area – by using windbreaks. To construct a windbreak, build a frame of wood stakes or PVC piping around the plant, then wrap the frame with burlap, canvas or a similar material. Avoid using nonporous plastics, and make sure to keep the wrapping from touching evergreens to prevent problems caused by condensation. Unwrap the plants in spring after all likelihood of frost has past.
In some regions, rodents like mice, porcupines, rabbits and voles cause tree loss by gnawing the bark off the base of the tree during winter months. If this is likely to happen in your area, you may want to place a guard around the tree. Simply cut galvanized screen with ¼-inch mesh (sometimes called hardware cloth) into 18-inch-long strips, then place them around the trunk with the edges overlapping and the lower portion pushed firmly into the ground. This type of guard should last indefinitely and can be left in place all year.
Cold-winter climates especially challenge deciduous shrubs and roses that struggle to survive very low temperatures and freezing – grafted varieties in particular. Wrapping the plants and burying the trunk and branches in fall helps protects them as well.
