Protecting Trees From Winter Injury in the Southern Plains

Use these techniques to prevent sunscald and animal damage during the dormant season

Extreme temperature fluctuations in wintertime are common on the Southern Plains and can cause wrong to young tree diagram . Alternate freeze and melt of water in the trunk can make crack in the bark , afford the tree to infection . This problem is usually called southwest winter hurt because it typically come on the southwestern destiny of the automobile trunk , which tends to know the gravid temperature swings as the quick good afternoon sun strikes the trunk . Another name for this type of damage is sunscald .

Trees susceptible to sunscald

Deciduous trees with placid bark and young , thin - barked trees are most susceptible to sunscald . Smooth - bark trees let in maple ( Acerspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , tulip Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ( Liriodendron tulipifera , Zones 4–9 ) , birch tree ( Betulaspp . and cvs . , Zones 2–7 ) , and many fruit tree . Most untested , new implant trees have thin barque and benefit from a trunk wrap in later fall to protect against injury . While most species develop thicker bark as they age , some tree diagram with dark bark , like yellowish pink and plum , will continue to be susceptible to sunscald . Evergreen trees are not susceptible , because branches shade off the trunk in winter .

How to protect trees against sunscald

Several commercial-grade products are available to protect trunk against winter injury . These are made of plastic , theme , or polypropylene fabric . I prefer paper wrapper , as they bring out less wastefulness and count more natural in the landscape . theme wrapper are made of thickheaded , wrinkle workmanship paper that has a footling reach to it . To give paper Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree wraps , only enfold the paper around the trunk , begin at the understructure and overlap as you put to work your way up to the first branch . Apply the paper loosely as you work . Secure the tops and undersurface with a postal code link , tape , or string . Polypropylene wraps are applied in a similar manner . If you are using a shaping trunk guard , verify it is generally meet and has holes or slits for good air circulation .

When to apply tree wraps

Young trees benefit from tree diagram wraps for the first two winter as they become established and develop thicker bark . The susceptible trees mentioned above will benefit from wrapping during the first five years or until the bark develops grain . Apply trunk wrapper in October , and leave them in property until March . It is important to remove tree wraps in leap prior to growth . During natural spring growth , the trunk expands as water moves up the trunk . Wraps practice too tightly or left on during this time can get constriction in the trunk . Pay attention to any zip ties or other holdfast as well . It is crucial to take these to obviate gird the trunk .

Winter pest protection

Rabbits , gnawer , and deer also cause damage to tree trunks , especially in winter . you’re able to protect against this type of harm by put in a modest telegram mesh piston chamber around the trunk . Set the mesh cage an in or so from the trunk so mammal can not feed through the opening night . It is important to contain the spacing on a regular basis to make certain the automobile trunk has not outgrown the coop . Bury the bottom several inch of the cage below the soil dividing line to prevent animals from burrow underneath .

Winter tree maintenance

Keep trees well irrigated going into the wintertime season . Stressed trees are more susceptible to sunscald . Give trees a overbold blanket of mulch to maintain soil moisture over the winter , and water trees and shrubs at least once per month during the winter calendar month in the absence seizure of sufficient rain or snow .

— Kim Toscano is a horticulturalist based in Stillwater , Oklahoma . She antecedently hostedOklahoma Gardening , a hebdomadary PBS television computer programme produced by the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service .

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protecting trees from winter injury

This Flashfire® Caddo sugar maple (Acer saccharum‘JFS-Caddo2’, Zones 4–9) has been wrapped to prevent sunscald and staked to mitigate the effects of wind.Photo: Kim Toscano

sunscald on a tree trunk

This photo shows the dramatic effects of sunscald. In this instance, the outer layer of bark has died on the southwestern side of the tree.Photo: Kim Toscano

tree wrapped and tied