10/05/2025
Notes from the Nursery: Protecting Trees and Shrubs in Winter Part 1
There is no shortage of ways that your trees can be damaged in the
harsh winters of Minnesota, but there are steps you can take to minimize
the damage. This week we’ll focus on cold and snow damage.
To help prevent damage from the cold apply a layer of mulch several
inches thick around the base of the tree. This will help to insulate the roots
in the event that there is not enough snow cover to properly insulate the
roots. Young and thin barked species can be susceptible to sunscald, when
the winter sun causes the bark to warm up and stimulate activity and
sudden cloud cover can cause a drop in temperature killing the active
tissue. To minimize this damage, wrap your young trees with a white wrap
or tree guard to reflect sunlight and maintain a more consistent
temperature. There is little that can be done to prevent winter dieback of
twigs and branches, but you can plant less hardy species in sheltered
areas and focus your planting efforts on more cold hardy species. Any
winter dieback should be pruned off the tree.
Heavy snow and ice storms can bend and break branches. To
prevent this damage, you should follow proper pruning techniques such as
removing multiple leaders (central stem) from a tree when they are still at a
size to do so, or pruning back branches to reduce the force on the joint
where the branch meets the trunk.
Protecting trees and shrubs in winter | UMN Extension
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