We ’re having a savage wintertime — buckets of snowfall , the occasional freezing rain and subzero temperatures ( remember December ? ) . weather condition like this can be rough on trees and shrubs , because , unlike your perennials , most of them are not snugly buried beneath the snow .
Here are four common types of wintertime damage to woody plants and what to do about them .
Sunscald
Also called frost cankers , sunscald is impairment to the trunk of trees caused when the Dominicus heat the barque of the tree , warming it enough to convey it out of wintertime dormancy . When the temperatures inevitably chill at night or the next day , the cells in the barque rift . This can cause a round rupture in the trunk or a vertical crack . Sunscald cracks generally come on the southwesterly side of the trunk and are most rife in thin - bark tree species , such as maples and yield trees . Young Tree are also more susceptible to winter price . The tree may heal themselves in spring , but prevent the injury is good . This is why you may see untested trees with white wrap around their trunks . The wrap reflect the light and prevent the bark from warming up . Another great idea is to plant something near the tree diagram thatwill shade off it in wintertime , such as an evergreen bush .
Frost Cracks
Sometimes sunscald injury depend like a hoar go , but this is a deep injury into the tree trunk . It appears when temperature waver wildly , going from XL to subzero , for deterrent example . It ’s more potential to hap if the tree already had an injury , such as a nick from pruning or other damage . The wisecrack extend into the stem of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . It may cure itself , or it may be the beginning of the end for the tree as bacteria and disease go in the crack .
Winter Burn
When an evergreen plant is immature on one side and rust on the other , it ’s belike stomach fromwinter burn . An abundance of factors can cause winter burn from a poorly set up source scheme to the drying effect of wind and sunlight . In the bound , you may prune off the stagnant foliage and , depending on how extensive the burn is , it may grow back in . Young shrubs and trees are broadly more susceptible . To keep wintertime burn mark , be sure to plant shrubs and trees in experimental condition that mould good for them . If a shrub likes shade , for lesson , do not put it in a fleck that will be endanger to sunshine and wind . In understructure plantings , do n’t do as I once did and implant an arborvitae near where the drier vents — the hot air nearly kill it !
Rabbit Damage
With all the snow we ’ve had , bunnies are athirst and they may go after your shrubs . Rabbit damage is easy to recognize because their sharp teeth leave a clean , aslope gash . Wrapping the bush with volaille wire or some other aegis is the good wayto prevent rabbitsfrom bugger off at your evergreens and other bush . Though with the snow as eminent as it is in some part of Minnesota , you may call for something even taller than poulet wire to foreclose this type of wintertime damage !
While winter damage is discouraging , many plants will recover from it and go on to grow and bloom in spring .
Mary Lahr Schieris a longtime Minnesota garden writer .
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