How to Care for Trees During the Winter?

How can you give the best look to your home and lawn? Keeping them looking their best in the winter can be a challenge. Winter is here! So, how to protect trees during this season? Here are some tips given by Tree service Snellville.

 

1. Tree inspection: 

Driscoll tree services recommend you get a tree inspection to take care of the trees during winter. The winter season is quite challenging for the trees. The cold weather weakens the trees' immune systems, making them more susceptible to pests and diseases. Trees also have to deal with snow, ice, and wind, and thus it can damage their bark and branches. Therefore, it is advised to get your trees inspected by professional arborists before the winter begins. They inspect the tree's overall health, any damage to the bark, pests, and diseases, whether the tree is structurally sound, and a potential hazard posed by trees. A good arborist will identify the potential problems with your trees and recommend solutions. 

Sometimes you also need emergency tree removal services. Some trees cannot be saved, and it is sometimes necessary to remove trees to avoid property damage. 

 

2. Pruning: 

Winter is a great time to prune. Thus, winter is the best season to trim trees since most insects are ill and dormant. Due to the storm, several branches get broken, so proper pruning is always advisable to reduce the chances of further breaking. It also reduces trees' size and form by cutting away branches that could be in the way of a nearby structure. Fallen branches are quite more obvious in deciduous trees. Here are some of the guidelines for pruning: 

 

·        Eliminate the limbs which are rotting or withering or injured or infected.

·        You need to select the lowest permanent branch based on tree location and intended use.

·        Remove the crossing or rubbing branches. 

·        Remove any suckers or water sprouts.

·        Start working on assembling the scaffolding.

How to Care for Trees During the Winter

3. Mulch:  

One of the best ways to protect trees from winter weather is mulching. It would help if you mulched before freezing. Mulch keeps the soil around the tree warm and thereby prevents the roots from freezing. It also keeps moisture in the soil. It is essential since trees need water during winter, even when it is cold outside. You can buy mulch from the hardware store or garden center. You can get organic mulch like wood chips, bark, or compost rather than inorganic mulches like gravel and stones. The root zone must be covered with a thick layer of mulch. After the mulches get settled down, you can add more so that no root will remain exposed. It keeps the garden weed free.

 

4. Protection: 

Protect vulnerable trees and plants. Protecting the trees and plants in winter weather is essential, especially after the leaves have fallen. The leaf-dropping or deciduous trees lose their protective canopy leaves that block snowfall exposure during winter. Leaves act as a blanket for perennial plants. The trees or plants with thin bark-like ornaments are susceptible to sunscald or frostbite. Sunscald occurs when the trees are directly exposed to sunlight on a cold day. To prevent this, you must wrap the tree's trunk with white reflective tape. 

 

5. Water: 

As per Tree service Winder, you must keep your trees hydrated in winter when they are freezing; the ground usually freezes and prevents the water from getting into the root zone. It is always beneficial to water the trees above freezing point after the water slowly moves and gets absorbed in the soil. You must ensure that you water deeply and do so once a week during winter. You may use a garden hose, or watering can and saturate the soil around the tree's root.