Keeping Shrubs & Trees Safe From Winter Damage

If last winter's harsh weather put a beatdown on your landscape plants, you didn’t suffer alone. Property owners all over Rochester found out what an extreme winter can do to shrubs and trees. When keeping shrubs & trees safe from winter damage, you must take action in the fall.
​
Winter Challenges

Harsh cold isn't the only challenge faced by trees & shrubs. Trees and shrubs well-known to professional tree care companies in Rochester should handle normal winter temperatures just fine. Sadly, winter can be destructive in other ways.

Early cold spells can destroy trees and shrubs that haven't had an opportunity to harden off for the wintertime. Winter sun and dry winds can burn or dry out needles and broad leaf evergreen foliage, which remain giving off water vapor during the winter months.

Frozen earth means trees and shrubs can't intake water to replenish the moisture lost from through transpiration and evaporation.

Midwinter thaws can trick plants into coming out of dormancy too soon, and the subsequent cold snap may kill the new growth. Varying thaw/freeze cycles can toss new plants out of the dirt, having roots bare to the sun and drying wind. The intense winter sun warms up dark tree bark which can crack and freeze when temps fall rapidly at sunset.

Preparing for The Big Chill

Healthy shrubs and trees are prone to get through winter unharmed. Foliage that has toiled during the growing season due to lack of nutrients and water or serious damage from disease or insects will go into winter in a weak state. Begin your winter-protection plan with vigilant care during the growing season and into fall.

Never prune after midsummer. Pruning incites new growth, delaying dormancy. Stop fertilizing plants 1 1/2 months before the first fall frost to aid plants to harden off properly. Water plants completely throughout fall until the dirt freezes. Be sure the water goes down deep to reach the roots.

The shrubs and trees that lose their leaves in the fall (deciduous shrubs and trees) have adjusted to life in cold-winter areas by going dormant. Several of these methods are crafted to ensure that trees and shrubs go into dormancy before the coldest weather hits and stay dormant until spring.​

---