How to Prepare Trees for Winter

 

 

One of the most important gardening tasks this time of year is to prepare your trees for the winter season. Winterizing trees includes light pruning, adding some organic materials to the soil, watering and in the case of young trees, wrapping the trunk. Pruning this time of year should be confined to damaged branches and suckers. Tree suckers are branches that can emerge from the base of the tree or low on the trunk. 

Trees that are under stress will tend to send up more suckers. Prune these branches off now. Small dead branches in the trees canopy can be removed at this time. Using a sharp bypass pruner, cut these small branches near the main trunk. Any major pruning is best done in winter when the tree is dormant. 

This is a good time of the year to add organic material to the area under the tree, specifically HuMic. HuMic contains humate, a soil conditioner that improves nutrient uptake, increases microbial activity and offers the benefits of a high-quality compost, all in one package.   

 

Improved nutrient uptake is important for all trees, but especially trees that are suffering from iron chlorosis. Humate will facilitate more efficient iron uptake in any tree experiencing iron deficiency.   

 

When you're finished adding humate, water the tree thoroughly. This is important because water acts as an insulator. Moist soil will be warmer. Hydrated cells will resist damage from the cold weather. As far as how much water your trees need, a general guideline suggests 10 gallons of water per inch of trunk diameter, as measured at chest height. You can water by hand or use a simple lawn sprinkler. 

Where you place the sprinkler depends on whether this is a newly planted tree or an established tree. For newly planted trees, water the root ball area. For established trees, place the sprinkler at the drip line. The drip line is the outer edge of the tree’s branches. The key is to water at a slow enough rate that the water soaks in and doesn't run off.  

 

 

Finally, young deciduous trees need to have their trunks wrapped. This is to prevent damage from the winter sun.  It’s not unusual for winter temperatures to reach 60° Fahrenheit in the daytime. When it gets this warm during the day, the low winter sun heats up the tree bark, especially on the south and southwest sides of the tree. The sun’s warming action breaks the tree's dormancy and the cells on that side of the tree wakeup and become active.  When the temperatures fall after sunset, the active cells and tissue die. Prevent sunscald on young trees by applying tree wrap now. 

Tree wrap is a corrugated paper product. Start at the base of the tree and spiral the wrap upward to the first primary branch. Overlap each turn by one-third.  Once you reach the first set of branches, loop the tree wrap over a strong, sturdy branch and tape it, so it will stay in place. A good rule of thumb is to wrap your trees around Halloween and remove the wrap around Easter. 

 

Taking these steps now will help ensure all the trees in your landscape will survive the winter and emerge healthy in the spring.

 

 

Fall Pruning and Care Tips for Perennials and Shrubs

Now that the vegetable garden has been put to bed it’s time to turn attention to the rest of the landscape. Thursday’s frost is a signal it’s time to prepare your shrubs and perennials for winter.  

  

Flowering shrubs can be divided into two categories: spring blooming and summer blooming. Spring blooming shrubs such as forsythia, lilac, ninebark and weigela already have this spring's flower buds in place. They're said to bloom on "old wood" because soon after flowering this past season, they began to set the buds for next season's blooms. If you prune these shrubs now, you'll remove most if not all the flower buds. The time to prune ornamental shrubs that flower in spring and early summer, is within a month after they stop blooming.   

  

Summer flowering shrubs such as butterfly bush, blue mist spirea, and hardy hibiscus can be pruned now, because they bloom on next year's growth or "new wood".  

Perennials such as catmint (Nepeta), columbine, daylilies, phlox, peonies, salvia, veronica, and yarrow can be pruned to the ground now. 

An exception would be in the case where perennials are still bloom, like this catmint. These will provide support for late foragers. Prune them last in the garden.  

  

Ornamental grasses can be pruned now, however they will add interest to your winter garden, so you can wait and prune them in early spring before they start to green up.  

  

You can prune roses back to between 24 inches and 30 inches. but avoid severe pruning. We’ll talk more about fall rose care in a future article. 

  

When it comes to trees, it’s better to wait until February or March to do any pruning. At this point in the season, trees focus their energy on their roots, as they prepare for winter. As a result, any pruning cuts made now won’t heal and will add stress to the tree. Better to wait until the tree is dormant to prune. The exception would be any dead, diseased or damaged branches and limbs. Those can and should be removed now.  

  

Fall cleanup can sometimes seem daunting, but with the right information, the job becomes more manageable. If you have questions concerning pruning or general fall prep, don’t hesitate to stop in. We’ll be glad to help you.