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Tree Care In the Winter

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As we roll into the fall, we start to ponder tree care in the winter. During the winter, it’s critical to pay attention to your trees and shrubs in Maryland, especially if you live in a rural area. With most woody plants dormant during this time of year, pruning back dying or intrusive branches is more viable. Pruning trees is crucial since well-pruned plants produce greater fruit and flowers. It also helps your plants defend against pesky insects and diseases. Team Paradise is here with helpful advice on why, where, and when you should start pruning your trees.

The tree is a symbol of life – it’s green, full of leaves and provides shade. When winter comes around, the tree sheds its foliage to protect itself from the cold. This makes tree care in the winter different than tree care at other times of year. Let’s discuss these factors in detail so you know if now is a good time to plant a tree in your yard.

Decide On Tree Type – Evergreen or Deciduous

Consider the kind of tree you want to plant before deciding whether to undertake it in the winter. Spruce and pine trees, for example, never shed their needles. Evergreens have a smaller planting window than deciduous trees. This is because they need the nutrients they can absorb before the ground freezes. The key is to plant evergreens when the soil is no lower than 60 degrees.
 
Deciduous trees, which go dormant in the winter and shed their leaves, need less energy to grow in the winter months. This implies that when you seed them, the temperature may be cooler. Plant deciduous trees in the fall or early spring before they begin to bud, when the soil is 50 degrees or higher.

Climate Zone

The climate has a big influence on when you may plant a tree in your yard. Throughout Annapolis and most of northern United States, fall is the best time to plant trees. The heat of summer has passed, but the searing frosts of winter have yet to appear.
 
But, in more southern regions, you have more time to plant trees. These states tend to include In Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Upcoming Weather Forecast

Seasonal and short-term weather can all have an impact on your ability to plant a tree, as well as your climate. Even if you live in a northern location, a particularly harsh winter may be ideal for planting trees. Yet, owing to an early September snowstorm, you must wait until later to plant new trees.

Early, Mid, or Late Winter

The winter season is three phases. The early part of the winter season is like fall. This makes it ideal for tree relocation. When the ground freezes or snow falls, though, it’s best to wait until late winter or early spring. New saplings are more vulnerable to frost damage. Their roots can also dry out if planted midwinter.

Special Considerations

Here are some pointers to help your sapling survive the winter. This is good information for any type of tree you want to grow:
 
  • Keep watering: Every few days, water the earth surrounding the young tree until it is frozen. Give it a bigger watering than usual before a major freeze.
  • Mulch: Roots in particular are harmed by the freeze-thaw cycle. Mulch might insulate the surface and maintain a more constant temperature. It also inhibits evaporation, allowing the roots to receive water a little easier.
  • Stake the tree: Windy conditions during the early spring might impede a sapling’s growth. To assist the tree grow straight and true, bind it to three or four supports.
  • Consider applying anti-desiccant: Evergreens that include broadleaf are protected from desiccation (drying out) during the winter with anti-desiccants, which give a waxy covering.

A Few More Tips for Tree Care in The Winter

  • Don’t fertilize: You don’t want a sapling to sprout new limbs right after being planted. Compost and bone meal are both acceptable, but wait until the soil is fertilized in the spring.
  • Don’t prune: Transplanting is tough enough for a sapling without you taking any of its branches away. This occurs if a limb is damaged while being carried and must be cut off.
  • Protect from deer: Deer repellents are one of the most efficient deer deterrents available. To keep your young tree protected from deer browsing, apply a deer repellent to it. Install a protective tube over the trunk to prevent deer rubbing their antlers on it to avoid damage.
Trees and shrubs are susceptible to harsh winters. Cold weather can desiccate leaves, bark, and branches, as well as flower buds and roots.Humans and animals contribute to winter tree maintenance issues in their own way; salt on the road and sidewalk destroyed soil health, and animals generally eat tree bark and twigs as a result of winter food shortages. These threats, especially when combined, can damage your trees and plants if you aren’t prepared!
Thanks to this guide, you should now know whether you can plant a tree this time of year. Feel free to contact our amazing team at Paradise Landscape and Hardscape! We are happy to answer any questions you might have. Spring will be here before you know it, so it’s wise to start planning. Contact us by clicking the button below to request a FREE JOB ESTIMATE today!
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Tree Care in Hot Summer Months

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Tree care in Annapolis, MD during the hot and wet summer months is a year-round responsibility.  As a result different trees need different requirements. Every tree and growing location is different. It’s important to be flexible and tailor your approach to suit your specific trees. The following tips should help you with tree card in hot summer months in Annapolis.

Apply a fresh layer of mulch over the roots.

Mulch helps to keep your trees – especially their roots – healthy in a variety of ways. However, mulch’s ability to shield the roots from high temperatures and to retain soil moisture are the two most important ways it can help in the summertime.

There are a variety of different mulches you can use, but organic, bark- or wood-based mulches are generally the best choices. Just make sure that you spread a 2- to 4-inch-thick layer around as much of the root zone as possible, and avoid piling mulch up against the tree trunk, as this can encourage fungal and bacterial growth.

Develop an irrigation plan.

Annapolis summers are notoriously wet. Big thunderstorms, called Boomers, just pound our area with rain. Man trees can withstand these wet conditions without any supplemental irrigation. But, others will need a helping hand if they’re to survive.

Research the water needs of your trees if you aren’t already familiar with them and devise a plan to suit their needs. There are a number of highly efficient ways to remove water around trees. Why waste all of the free water from your landscape, rooftop, driveways, patios, and grass area. Re-use it! This new technology will collect and retain groundwater and rainwater underground and be able for you use at your own convenience. Are you tired of having ugly rain barrels under your gutter downspouts? We can install a retention basin underground, collect and retain all rainwater, and then hook this new water source to a hose or your irrigation system.

Paradise Landscape & Hardscape designs and installs yard drainage solution

Catch basins, channel drains, & French drains to move water away from home. These are different types of yard drainage solutions in Annapolis.

  • Connect gutter downspouts and run them underground to the location you want
  • Dry creek bed with hidden drainage pipes to channel water and improve the aesthetic properties
  • Change the grading on your property to divert water in a different direction
  • Innovative Dry-wells

Protect tree roots and trunks.

It’s summer. Kids are out of school and the tourist season is in full swing. Unfortunately, all your trees and shrubs are getting trampled. They may even fall victim to vandalism or deliberate damage. As a result, while you can’t completely protect your trees from these threats, you’ll want to do everything you can to shield them from harm. Mulch will help protect a tree’s roots from minor foot traffic, but you may want to install fences or other types of barriers if your tree lies along a well-trodden path.

You may even be able to install other plants to help keep people away from the trunks and roots of your trees – a couple of prickly holly shrubs can convince most casual passersby from getting too close. If you see big roots exposed, curling or snaking on the soil’s surface around a tree, it can be a sign of trouble. Tree roots normally grow just below ground, in the top 12 to 18 inches of soil.

Therefore when roots are above the soil, they’re easily damaged. They can be sliced by lawnmowers or string trimmers, or worn and torn by foot traffic. Damaged roots can’t do their job of collecting water and nutrients to support the tree.

Try these tips.

Don’t try to rebury the roots by piling on more soil. Ideally, soil may end up too deep or tightly packed, so the fine feeder roots can’t absorb oxygen.
Do spread mulch over the roots. This will: Cushion the roots, Insulate them, Discourage foot traffic, Keep lawnmowers away (there’s no need to mow mulch)

Do use an organic material such as wood chips or shredded wood. Spread it in an even layer 3 to 4 inches deep over the surface of the soil.
Do make the area of mulch as large as it needs to be to completely cover the exposed roots, even if that means covering an area of lawn. It’s healthier for a tree to be surrounded by mulch than by grass.

Exposed roots aren’t just a dangerous tripping hazard; they can spell danger for the trees they support.

Inspect the tree’s health while the canopy is full.

Crown dieback – characterized by dead or dying branches in the canopy — is one of the most common signs of failing health or stress, and it is important to regularly inspect your trees for it. However, it can be difficult to do so for deciduous trees, which shed their leaves in the winter.
However, the summer provides the perfect time to take a look at the canopies of your trees, as the tree should be exhibiting the greatest leaf density at this time. If you note any dead branches, be sure to have a landscaper inspect the tree at once.

Do you know what the Maryland State Tree is?

The White Oak. Handsome and sturdy, the white oak is named for its whitish bark and grey twigs. White Oaks are large, long-lived, and slow-growing trees, reaching heights of 60 to 150 feet, with diameters between 3 to 4 feet. Their glossy, bright green leaves have rounded lobes, five to seven per leaf. The species is found commonly throughout Maryland. Sometime around its fiftieth year, a white oak begins to produce acorns and may produce 10,000 annually. Crowned with shallow caps that are smooth underneath, these acorns sprout soon after falling from the tree. Sweet to the taste, they are a dietary mainstay for over 80 species of birds and mammals. Native Americans ground acorns into flour, a technique they shared with early European settlers. White oaks produce prime hardwood lumber with a fine, almost watertight grain, excellent for barrel staves.

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If you are concerned that your trees won’t take this summer in stride, give Paradise a call or fill out our FREE ESTIMATE form below. We’ll come out to inspect your trees and recommend the best strategies for keeping them healthy throughout the hot, humid, wet weather. We may even notice subtle signs that indicate imminent problems, thereby allowing you to treat them proactively and avoid headaches down the line.

Request Free Estimate
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