Top Winter Tree Care Tips: Winter is never a pleasant season for trees as the storms, snowfall and cold temperature lead to serious damage outdoors. People have little control over the climate and as such they cannot provide full protection to the trees against the adverse climate. But people can at least take care of the trees in the winter season even when it is cold and wet outside. In fact, winter is the best time to pruning or trimming the trees. Winter season is certainly the perfect time for cabling and bracing of the trees. It is true that proper pruning and trimming of trees can certainly enhance the beauty as well as the function of the trees. But before you start pruning the trees you must have proper knowledge on it otherwise it may have adverse effects on your tees.
Top Winter Tree Care Tips
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Some essential tree care tips for the winter season
In this article we have come up with some essential tree care tips that you must take into consideration during the winter season:
- Time to prune: You should actually prune the trees when it goes into dormancy in the winter season. Normally it is always better to prune trees when it is young and it can then establish a good structure which is very helpful in preventing the damage of the tree in the future. It is also important to remove the dead, damaged, diseased or dying branches of the trees. While pruning the tree select the Lowest Permanent branch (LPB) of the trees on the basis of the location. You can also select temporary branches that are below the Lowest Permanent branch (LPB) and either remove or head back the other trees for establishing scaffold branches. If you are uncomfortable in pruning or do not have adequate tools for pruning then it is always advisable to approach those who are experts in pruning and trimming the tree such as Pacifique Tree Care.
- Protect trees from freeze: You need to provide protection to the most vulnerable trees especially at the time when the temperature drops to freezing. There are many trees especially the young ones cannot tolerate the freezing temperature that is below 32 degrees. For protecting the trees from such freezing temperature it is highly important to cover the susceptible trees with sheets, tarps, burlap, etc. Apart from that you can also use frames or stakes for minimizing the contact that lies in between the cover and foliage. Another best way to protect trees from freezing temperatures is to plant the trees on the pot and place the tree on a more protective area. The soil that is moist usually absorbs more solar radiation as compared to dry soil and it will re-radiate heat at night.
- Mulch for retaining moisture and warmth: You need to cover the soil with a 3-5 inch layer of mulch. The best way to do it is to start a few inches from the base of the trunk of the tree and then extend it to more than 2 feet from the tree in every direction. It is always better if you use organic matter. Various types of organic matter can be found in the market but the best is to use the wood chip with or without leaf. It works excellently if you can use wood chip mulch or duff that are created by the leaves of the tree. But pruning you must make sure that the mulch is at a few inches away from the base of the tree. Apart from that, you must keep in mind that too much moisture around the trunk of the tree may lead to decay. Mulching is very essential for proper enhancement of the trees and the best thing of mulching is that it can retain soil moisturized, increase the temperature of the soil during the winter season, reduce the hot temperature of the soil during the summer season, restore moisture and enhance the nutrient level of the soil.
- Continue to water the trees: You must continue to water your trees especially when there is no rain in the winter season. If the trees are young then you need to water the trees every week or every alternative week. Apart from that, you must use at least 10 to 15 gallons of water for each inch of the trunk diameter at the breast height. For example, if the trunk of the tree is 10 inches in diameter at the breast height then you must understand that the tree will require about 100 to 150 gallons of water. Another most essential thing to consider is that you have to use water slowly so that the tree gets enough time to soak into the ground. However, you can also check the guidelines for watering the trees visit website.