For those of you that have trees that are barely for your growing zone

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

What things do you do to help protect them in the winter?

I'm going to try the Golden Raintree, again, next year. The one I had grew amazingly well for 5 years, until a BAD winter wiped it out. But, I had it planted in a wide open, rural, southwest part of my yard, the worst place for it to endure our harsh winters.

I'm thinking of getting another one, and planting it on either the North side or even the East side of my property.

Would doing that help at all? And if not, what do you do to help borderline zone plants stay afloat during winter?

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Comments (5)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years ago
i gave up wasting money on zone pushing plants ...

like your experience.. even if you win for a few years ... sooner or later.. ma nature sends reality marching thru your frozen tundra ...

and sooner or later.. some small protectable plant.. gets too large to be protected ... then the grim reaper swoops in ...

ken
User
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
'The one I had grew amazingly well for 5 years,'

Most trees will do good down to a certain temperature. So it will help to remember what conditions you had during the winters that the tree did well.

Protecting the tree from harsh winds will help as wind can strip heat from trees branches and trunk causing temperatures to drop even further from the ambient temperature outside. Freezing of the inner bark will kill the top of the tree so the more you can do in that respect, the better.

Mulching the ground will help keep the ground from wild temperature swings that can damage the roots. If your area does not get enough snow to insulate the ground during the coldest part of the winter, you need something that will. If the roots drop to below zone hardy temperatures, the tree is finished.

That said, there is only so much you can do because not only is your tree "barely zone hardy" but your zone itself can have temperatures out side of the average temperatures that your zone was graded by. So you get one winter that defies your Z5a and gives you a Z4b because of a dip in the polar vortex, puts your tree 2 zones out of it's hardiness zone and will cause failure at all levels.
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NHBabs z4b-5a NH
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A northern exposure may help since it will keep snow longer and reduce the likelihood that the tree will start to bud out and then get nailed by a late frost.
whaas_5a
6 years ago
What is the prevailing winter wind? For me its nortwest.

I only put less hardy plants in northeast and east coves.

Soil ph plays a role too. Don't think about putting a zone 5B acidic loving plant in an alkaline 4B soil.

If you have well drained soil a solid watering in October and November will go a long way.

The only zone pushing I do is 5B.

For those of you that have trees that are barely for your growing zone

Comments (5)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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