Easy Ways to Maintain Your Trees in the Winter

Trees have their way of withstanding the winter season. Some trees shed their leaves to conserve water, but the most critical component of a tree’s preparation for winter is the care you provide, as the homeowner, before and during the season. The essential things to focus on to properly care for your tree are the roots, the branches, and the trunks. For more information or expert advice, please consult with our professionals at Custom Taylor’d Lawn & Landscape in Springfield, IL.

Protection for Roots

For the roots, you’ll want to water the tree’s soil consistently until the ground freezes. This helps the roots stock up enough hydration to make it through winter. Keep an eye on your trees because roots can suffer damage if the soil temperature gets too cold (below 15 degrees Fahrenheit). If you live in an area where you can count on frequent snow, the resulting blankets of compact snow on the tree beds should provide enough insulation to keep the roots warm. If it doesn’t snow in your area, try mulching your tree bed to help protect the roots. Also, keep an eye out for road salt—if it’s spread on sidewalks or walkways near your trees, the salt can be fairly harmful to the roots. Consider calcium chloride-based salt as a better alternative than sodium that won’t dry out tree roots. For more tips, contact our team today!

Protection for Branches

The winter season is the best time to prune your trees, so get out the shears and remove any dead or broken branches to help your tree stay healthy. To prevent the loss of further branches, make sure to remove any snow that has piled up and threatens to cause the branches to break under the additional weight. We advise using a broom to brush off the snow gently—this avoids the branch breaking and is a potential hazard for you and your family if you ever walk under the tree. Do not try the same with ice on your branches; it’s best to leave it alone and let it melt off in the spring. If your trees suffer from winter burns, consider water, mulch, or burlap wraps to help protect your tree. When you need more guidance, contact our staff at Custom Taylor’d Lawn & Landscape for exceptional tree care services.

Protection for Trunks

When it comes to the trunks of your trees, the two things you need to look out for are deer and sunscald. If you haven’t heard of sunscald, it results in your tree getting a lot of heat from the sun during the daytime and then quickly experiencing freezing temperatures in the evening. The best way to protect against this is by wrapping your trunks with a plastic tree guard to help store the right amount of heat. As for deer, if you have some in your area, they may use your tree trunks to smooth out their antlers, causing considerable damage by stripping the wood. The plastic tree wrap can also help with this problem unless you’d rather build a little barrier to deter the deer. Reach out to our team if you have any other questions or concerns.

Protection for Newly Planted Trees

If you’ve recently planted a new tree, you should know that it will be much more vulnerable to cold weather once winter arrives. Therefore, they will need extra care to survive. Effectively protecting your young tree is to shield them from the harsh elements. Trees with thin bark can experience sunscald, and fruit trees can have their buds damaged by freezing temperatures, making it harder for the tree to produce fruit in the spring. Again, we recommend wrapping the tree’s trunk with a plastic guard you can find at any garden store. You can also use something called an anti-transparent or frost shield. You can spray this on the canopies of fruit trees, so the tree is coated with a protective film to help retain more moisture. When you want further help or assistance caring for your trees, call our Custom Taylor’d Lawn & Landscape team at 217.306.4215.