Protecting Trees Through Unpredictable Winters in the Mountain West

A little maintenance now can save you from dead or broken boughs when the snow melts

Drought , 60 ° to 70 ° F temperature fluctuations in a 24 - hour period , and former and late time of year snows are hard on trees in the Mountain West . While we ca n’t check Mother Nature , there are some thing we can do to protect our tree through our irregular winters .

Winter watering

Our Mountain West summertime can bring drouth , and fall can bring dusty snaps . This go to many trees already see stress right before winter . immix that stress with the dry out malarkey and fluctuating temperatures of wintertime , and some trees may not survive without additional wet . Because of this , wintertime lacrimation is essential in the Mountain West .

The general good word is to water Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and shrub once a calendar month if no moisture ( rainwater or snow ) has fallen in the previous hebdomad . You will find me doing this on those lovely 50 ° atomic number 9 day we get sporadically throughout the season . For modest or newly establish trees , put the water directly at the root zone . For larger , more plant Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , water in several positioning around the dripline at the verboten portion of the tree canopy . I utilise a sprinkler ( such as a frog middle or oscillating sprinkler ) in these areas to get broader insurance coverage and leave it die hard for about 15 minutes per area . Be certain to bring off the meter reckon upon your soil case , the dryness of the atmospheric condition , and the water pressure of the hosiery .

Sunscald

Many vernal , thin - barked , deciduous trees are susceptible to sunscald , also known as Southwest disease . yield tree , ashes ( Fraxinusspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , maples ( Acerspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , and honey locusts ( Gleditsia triacanthos , Zones 3–8 ) are the most at danger . As we know , we can have strong , sunny wintertime twenty-four hour period in the Mountain West . With the humble angle of the sun during this time of year , these warm days can induce Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree cells to ignite up from dormancy — typically on the south / southwest side of tree trunks . When temperature drop at night , these cells refreeze , causing combat injury to the tree .

One style to protect your trees is to wrap the trunks . Tree wrapper is a axial rotation of brownish composition ( it reckon like thick-skulled crepe paper ) that can be launch at the local garden eye . get at the bottom of the tree and overlap the paper by one - third to one - half the breadth of the paper . Secure just above the first branch with tape ( do not tape at once to the tree ; mag tape to the newspaper underneath ) . A cosmopolitan rule of thumb is to put the wrap on at Thanksgiving and move out it at Easter . Once tree diagram become more mature , it is no longer necessary to wrap them .

Protect branches from heavy snows

There are two ways to minimize price to trees from heavy snows :

1.While proper structural pruning of tree is important for many reasons , another benefit of good pruning is to help downplay break during snows when Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree still have their leave . alas , these Baron Snow of Leicester are n’t usually the powdery snows our region is be intimate for ; they are typically heavy with wet that clings to the leaves , count down the arm . right pruning by removing water sprout , extinguish double leader and thwart subdivision , and cutting back obstinate arm are all good practice that will help minimize weight on the branches and the breakages that can result . acquire more on pruning tree diagram here :

Maintenance Pruning

How to Prune Conifers

2.Another way to help tree in operose snows is to physically dispatch the snow . We have an old heather for just this purpose . When gravid snows have branches to touch the ground , I grab my broom and use it to knock snow off the small branch . Yes , you will get stale and slopped , but there is something so satisfying in find out the outgrowth spring back up to their original position .

Just a little bite of effort can keep your trees happy and salubrious this winter and allow them to flourish for many twelvemonth to come . When spring comes , if you do see some damage to your trees despite your best efforts , read more on decline it withDamage to Look for When the Snow Melts .

— Michelle Provaznik is executive director of the Gardens on Spring Creek in Fort Collins , Colorado .

Fine Gardening Recommended ware

Okatsune 103 Bypass Pruners General Purpose Medium

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through liaison on this site , including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs .

Corona High Performance Orchard Loppers

Fiskars 15 " PowerGear Loppers — Sharp Steel Blade Bush and Tree Trimmer

Get our up-to-the-minute tip , how - to articles , and instructional video sent to your inbox .

Signing you up …

Designing a Native Mixed Border in the Mountain West

Firewise Landscaping in the Mountain West

Dwarf Pines for the Mountain West

Propagating Native Plants From Seed in the Mountain West

Join Fine horticulture for a free engage live webinar feature Dr. Janna Beckerman , a renowned plant pathologist as well as professor emerita at Purdue University and the ornamentals proficient managing director …

When I blob a particular moxie dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few month ago , I know I was in trouble . With a delightful color pattern …

When we only prioritise plant life we want over plants our landscape needs , each time of year is fulfill with a never - ending list of job : pruning , pinching , watering , treating , amending , and fertilizing , with …

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be careful when you come in the backyard of garden interior decorator Jeff Epping — not because you ’re probable to trip on something , but because you might be dive - flush it by a couple …