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? for those who have wrapped their trees for winter protection

14 years ago

When is the best time? How do you know when it is tim? I know after the leaves have dropped, but is there a certain air temperature average there has to be or what is the determining factor on when to decide.

I planted 5 4-5 foot trees this year on the south part of my yard, and I need to protect them from the winter sun and wind we tend to get. I never realized how windy it is here on a daily basis til I planted these trees.

I keep reading on the internet the right time is "end of November" but here south of buffalo where I live we've already seen snow and it was just projected possibly 7 more inches tonight. In fact, where my house is we can get a foot of snow, and 7 miles away it is green skies and sunshine. It's pretty crazy. So I am wondering should I be wrapping sooner than November? My trees still all have their leaves but the temps are down in the 30's at night. I don't want to wrap too soon or too late.

I know there are those who say wrapping is not necessary and I respect that, but it's what I feel I need to do this year and probably next. Any opinions on when is the best time to do it would be really appreciated!

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Comments (3)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
snow is irrelevant ... it is water.. you arent wrapping to protect from water ...

you are protecting them from winter sun.. when temps are near zero ...

under that logic .... you have a month or two to go ...[or in buffalo.. at least another 12 hours.. lol]

it would be worse to be too early .... than to be too late ...

should you wrap.. and get a week in the 80 .. yeah right.. lol ... it would be worse than waiting an extra couple weeks ..

all that said .... what kind of trees... why cant they stand the wind .... are they not zone appropriate????

whats your wrapping plan .... how large are they ... have you been watering them properly this fall

and why do you think it needs to be done ... too much love can do more harm than good sometimes ...

ken
hortster
14 years ago
There isn't a consensus amongst the community of horticultural gurus about wrapping trees to help with winter sunscald. Around here we do recommend wrapping thin-barked trees like linden, honeylocust, and especially red maple because we have such a great fluctuation in winter temperatures. A logical explanation (one of several) is that the low south and west winter sun warms bark and tends to create a false break in dormancy in the cells on those sides of the tree during warmer spells. Then when hard cold weather returns the cells are damaged, often killed.
The WHITE geotextile wrap makes the most sense to me. Its light color doestn't heat the trunk as much and it dries out quickly after receiving moisture.
Ken is correct in that it is better to wrap late vs. too soon. It is not the cold, but as he says, the warmth in winter that hurts the bark.
If you wrap your trees, be sure to start at the bottom and wrap to the top so that the overlap sheds as much moisture as possible. Do not use tree wrap over damaged areas that are already exposing dead wood as this can promote fungal activity. Three or four turns of electrical tape at the top and bottom works pretty well to hold the wrap until the tree leafs out the following spring, when the wrap should be removed to prevent harboring insects.
Hope this helps...
hortster
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Are you sure those winter temps AVERAGE in the 30's? That sounds pretty cold. (Detached garages tend to be colder than attached.) I overwintered my robustas in a two-car (detached) garage that averaged 40-55 F. over course of winter (minimum 38F.). (Small, electric space heater helped a bit on very cold nights.) The top two rows are windows and it faces due south. If your garage actually averages temps in the 30's, I would expect some problems. It's not the occasional dip into the 30's that's the problem; it's the sustained cold. Expect leaf damage at the least if not total defoliation. Buds will probably make it--especially if you refrain from watering at these cold temperatures. If you are interested in using your garage as locale for overwinter some of your palms (many people do), I would invest in a max./min thermometer to see what conditions in the garage are really like. The windmills will not have a problem either inside the garage or outside in the ground (especially if you give them some microclimate advantage/insulation etc).
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Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
14 years ago
Here on the Front Range there is no consensus either, but I prefer the geotex white with 'holes' in it (the better half has her opinion as well) and am leaning to deferring to hortser as a rule.

Many others here disagree as well but IMHO the well-done wrapping helps - what throws everyone off is the cr*ppy wrapping that does nothing as it flaps in February and all protection is lost. Secure with electrical tape as hortster says, not duct tape. It is an art and if you feel the art, don't be afraid. If you don't feel the art, think long and hard and you have time, but don't procrastinate. Best of luck,

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