Evergreens proudly live up to their title — they are the perfect symbol of emerald beauty to add value and character to our landscape. Not only they are prized form their green foliage and graceful forms all year round, but evergreen trees also make effective privacy screens and windbreakers.
What is great about evergreen trees is that they are built to survive the harsh winter temperature. Unlike deciduous trees, evergreens do not lose their needles and continue to experience photosynthesis, showing a higher rate of water loss than deciduous trees. Although they thrive well in winter, they still require care and maintenance to keep them healthy, beautiful, and luscious.
Basic Evergreen Winter Care
We have rounded up several helpful tips to help you keep your evergreen trees thriving in winter. This quick and easy guide also prepares your evergreens for spring.
- Water it thoroughly until late fall – To keep your evergreen well-hydrated, soak the root area thoroughly just before the ground starts to freeze. Ideally, you should decrease the amount of water starting in September and continue to provide enough moisture through October to November until freeze-up. The roots will continue to absorb the stored water underground to protect them from winter burn.
- Mulch – Surround your evergreen tree with a free layer of mulch, using coarse organic materials, such as bark chips, sawdust, and wood fibre. You can mix the mulch materials with compost or manure to feed your plants with nutrients. Apply a two to three-inch layer of mulch and spread it in a four to five diameter around the tree. Never pile up mulch in a hill and keep it away from the trunk.
- Pruning – Winter is the perfect time to check your evergreen tree for dead, diseased, or damaged branches while they remain dormant. This allows you to easily inspect its structure and problem branches that need to be pruned. Also, winter is a good time to establish a leader. If your evergreen has two dominant leaders, remove one by pruning outside the branch collar. Avoid flushing it to the trunk to prevent decay.
- Create a barrier against the wind – Evergreen trees planted on the south or southwest area of your home are usually exposed to harsh winter winds and scalding winter sun. The combination of these two elements can cause substantial damage to your tree. However, a burlap barrier helps protect the tree from the harsh winter elements.
Post wooden stakes and sturdy metal around the south or southwest side of the newly planted evergreen tree. Wrap the posts with burlap, but keep the top open to allow sunlight and air to pass through. The burlap has natural, porous fibre that allows the wind to pass through. Its resilience makes it strong enough to withstand and minimize intense gusts from reaching and damaging the tree.
- Cultivating evergreens – Although evergreen trees can survive the extreme temperatures, winter wind and sun can dry evergreen needles, by taking out the moisture from the leaves. Evergreens love the full summer sun and winter shade. To protect them from drying out, plant trees on the north side of your house. If your trees are planted on the south or southwest side, contact a tree company to safely move your trees on the north side of your property.
- Skip the rock salt – Rock salt should be kept away from the tree as it affects the ability of the tree to absorb oxygen, water, and essential nutrients to keep the tree healthy. Instead of applying rock salt on walkways and pavement, use ice melting products that contain calcium, magnesium chloride, or potassium.
- Protect them from hungry animals – When the winter season strikes, the food source becomes limited. Animals, such as deer, rabbits and voles, feast on the bark of young trees. This can be damaging to the health of your evergreen as it exposes the tree to pest and disease. To protect your young trees from hungry animals, wrap them with chicken wire to prevent critters from making a buffet out of the tree roots and vulnerable bark.
- Wrap trees in netting – Old-time gardeners use sheets of burlap to wrap around their evergreen trees. Wrapping trees help reduce wind flow through the plants to minimize water loss. However, using netting to cover the tree trunk offers the same benefits as burlap sheets. Also, netting protects the tree from snow damage. What is great with netting is that it is almost invisible from a few yards away. Use a black or dark-green net. Wrap carefully (not tightly) by pulling the branches together. Make sure to follow the tree’s natural shape.
- Brush off foliage – Snow accumulating the foliage can put extra weight on the branches, resulting in breakage. To prevent this problem, make sure to brush snow off the foliage. Leave it around roots to keep the soil warm and less likely to freeze.
Why Evergreen Needles Turn Brown in Winter (And How to Stop It)
Evergreen trees are known for their rich, glowing green beauty all year round. They do not shed their leaves no matter what the season is. While they are built to survive winter, its needle can turn brown due to extreme weather conditions. Here are the most common causes, and suggested solutions to fix the problem:
- Harsh, Cold Winters
- Problem: Although evergreens can adapt to cold temperatures, they are still vulnerable. Once the ground starts to freeze, the roots depend on the water stored in tree needles. However, harsh winter elements can quickly drain the tree’s water stash. Dryness causes the needles to turn brown.
- Solution: To prevent dehydration, simply give your evergreen with a protective spray.
- Dry, Sunny Winters
- Problem: The combination of dry winter and beating sun make the needles thirstier. Sunscald is a condition where direct sunlight causes the needles to turn uniformly brown due to extra water loss. Other signs of sunscald include dead or dried areas of bark.
- Solution: Spray leaves with an anti-desiccant to relieve dryness. You can also wrap the bark of the tree with burlap sheets to keep them warm and protected from winter elements.
- Infecting Intruders
- Problem: Browning needles, along with large cankers or small holes that leak white sap, is a sign of infection, which is usually caused by a pest (pine beetle) or cytospora canker disease.
- Solution: Contact the nearest arborist to determine the right treatment for the problem.
These essential tips keep your evergreen trees in good shape throughout the winter. Many homeowners prefer to buy evergreen trees because they require minimal care, especially during the winter months.
If you are looking for farm-grown evergreen trees for sale in Toronto, call Caledon Treeland at (905) 880-1828, and we will book you for a tour of our GTA tree farm where you can personally choose the best evergreen tree for your landscape.