With winter just around the corner here in northern Utah. We need to prep your trees to survive the brutal winter. Here are some tips to make sure your trees survive the winter.
1- Wrap the trunk. Thin-barked trees like honeylocust, maple and linden are susceptible to sunscald and frost cracks because of drastic winter temperature fluctuations. To prevent bark damage, wrap the trunks of younger trees up to the first branches using commercial tree wrap. Leave the wrap on until end of March or early April.
2- Mulch the base. Apply 2 to 4 inches of wood chips, bark or other organic mulch near the base of the tree, but not against it, to reduce soil evaporation, improve water absorption and insulate against temeperature extremes. If you need some wood chips your friendly neighborhood arborist would love to come drop some off.
3- Recycle leaves. Instead of disposing of autumn leaves, consider layering the around the base of each tree as mulch, or blend them into the yard with a mulching mower to retain nutrients.
4- Give them a good drink. Before storing the garden hose for winter, water trees in the area extending from the trunk to the extent of the longest branches. water slowly, with a sprinkler or soaker hose, at the rate of 10 gallons per inch of the tree diameter.
5- Focus on younger trees. If you have planted a tree anytime this year especially if you planted one this fall they will need the most help as their root-systems are not as established as more mature trees.
Doing these 5 things will make sure your trees will stay around and be healthy for many years to come.
And as always if you have any questions don’t hesitate to call us. Our staff is more than happy to answer any questions you may have.