What to do about frost-heaved Eastern hemlock cutting?

last month

I have a few cuttings of Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) that I was able to root, and I noticed this evening that the roots have become exposed. We had a couple of very cold nights, and I'm assuming the culprit is frost heaving.

Any tips on what I should do next? Do you think the exposed roots were damaged/killed in the cold, or can I save the plants?

I've attached pics of the plant that was worst hit. You can see the exposed roots in the close-up. We're in the Philly area in Zone 7a, and the cuttings were taken from trees upstate in Zone 6a. I rooted them and transplanted them to six-inch containers of peat:perlite, and they're now overwintering in an attached greenhouse. The outside temperature dipped to about 9 degrees last night, but the greenhouse is usually 5 to 10 degrees warmer than the outside air temp, so I'm guessing the cuttings were not exposed to cold below 15 degrees. I watered the plants well about three or four days before the cold snap. The pots are wrapped in bubble wrap and surrounded with straw bales, so there was some insulation, but the exposed roots were, of course, exposed.

I'm guessing I should prepare some more moist peat/perlite and gently mound it over and around the roots to re-bury them when the temp thaws tomorrow (we're supposed to get into the mid-40s), but I really don't know what to do and don't want to damage them more.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

James

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last month
last modified: last month
i highly doubt there is frost heave in z7 in a greenhouse ... those roots appear to have been exposed a very long time ...

dampen some media.. and just lay it on top.. and walk away .. lets not kill them with too much love ...

i have seen many potted trees like this at production facilities.. and its not all that uncommon ..

ken

this is how heave works ... sure doesnt look like a few hours of cold in z7
BillMN-z-2-3-4
last month
You'll just have to wait and see.

I've wintered newly rooted cuttings of Tsuga canadensis in a cold frame where the temps got down to 20dF over a couple of months and had nothing bad happen.

Mine were in a 511 bark mix and when I brought them out in the spring, were thoroughly frozen like an ice cube.

I certainly would raise the soil level so it covers the roots. Roots drying would be as bad as getting too cold although 15d is pretty cold, so I would keep them a bit warmer for the rest of winter.
Related Discussions
Concrete Slabs & Root Heaving
Q
Comments (9)
There is no hard answer for this question. The first question what is the space between the slabs. If insufficient space is allowed, it doesn't matter what you plant, you are going to have problems. I live in a community that thinks a two foot hole cut in concrete is enough to allow a shade tree to survive and grow, and then gets outraged when the tree grows to it's mature size and does what it does. The fault is not of the tree, it's of small minded people who like to think they can control all factors. The greater pity is this...as expensive as it may be to remove and replant, it's still a meager fraction of the cost of replacing a slab. No matter what your information, good luck getting around one. In a practical sense, what you are looking for will determine what you find. Want to see problems with concrete heaving due to tree and root growth? Look aorund you and that is what you will see. However, if that were such a major problem, it's safe to say there would not be a tree planted in any city in America, nor even in many of the small towns. There are other answers. Structural soils are available, designed to limit compaction, allow penetration and growth of roots under structures and slabs. However, they are expensive and require that consideration of such factors be taken into account before construction began. Usually, they are only used in government jobs or other projects that require plants units per density. The best answer I can give? Information is a powerful weapon. I do have some info regarding value of trees and landscaping around, it all came from internet sources. I'll try to locate it and get back with the highlights. Otherwise, start searching under tree value and landsacaping.
...See More
what happened with canadian hemlocks
Q
Comments (11)
Some states have enacted quarantines restricting the import of Hemlocks. Here in Ohio that is in effect and Hemlock can't be shipped in from the East Coast. Last month I toured a garden that had a mature Japanese Hemlock. (Tsuga Diversifolia) It was a very attractive tree with a bi-color effect due to the silver underside of the needle. There has been speculation that strains other than Canadensis or Carolina may be resistant to the Wooley Adelgid. If anyone has seen additional data about that please post it. Perhaps the best course of action is to propagate from this plant next winter and send plants to as many locations around the country as possible to get a good sampling of resistance.
...See More
Northern Japanese Hemlock sun tolerance?
Q
Comments (37)
well, 'inferior to' leaves a pretty wide berth for the imagination but a google search brings up many links to HWA resistance of T. sieboldii and many of then say that while T. diversifolia and T. chinensis have excellent resistance, T. sieboldii show little damage even though some HWA may reside on the tree itself. To me that would be good enough to try one. :) https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/disturbance/invasive_species/hwa/control_management/hybrid_hemlocks/
...See More
They heave so easily
Q
Comments (26)
"Many of the newer heuchera introductions were rushed to market without being fully trialed resulting in very short longevity in northern gardens." felisar you are right. It is why I do not purchase any terra nova creations. They do not trial in enough areas if they did they would not be able to say zone ?. The seem to have good survival if you live in cold and lots of snow or mild winter without constant swing cold wet winter areas ..... stable weather. My weather is herc murder 50s and rain for few days and over night temp drop below freezing for a week followed by repeat warm up. It is rinse, repeat frozen water murder.
...See More
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
last month
What you see is attributable to soil shrinkage (gassing off) or settling of the soil. It's no big deal. You can add additional soil to cover the roots (but not any of the stem/trunk) if you like, or leave it as it is.

Al
HU-8905233
Original Author
last month
Thank you so much for the responses! I am still mulling what to do. There was **some** exposure of the roots even before this weekend, but the roots seem much more exposed now, and I am a little worried about damage either from dehydration or from the next cold snap.

My impression from what I've read is that the most I should do is mix up some moist medium to work gently under and around the roots so they are covered, but I am reluctant to do any more than that. Too much risk of killing them with love, as Ken says.

Unfortunately, there is nowhere warmer to put them. The house is warmer but way too dry.
BillMN-z-2-3-4
last month
last modified: last month
I think the idea here is to keep them dormant until spring. Anything above low 40'sdf and they'll start to grow. I don't know when you want that to begin in z7.

Looking at your pictures, the cuttings look so nice and green (read healthy) so I wouldn't worry about them too much. You just don't want them to come out of dormancy, then go back into the deep freeze, at least not repeatedly. Most cold zone plants can take that to a certain extent.

Good luck and come back and let us know how things turn out. :-)
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last month
from what I've read is that the most I should do is mix up some moist medium to work gently under and around the roots so they are covered,

==>> no..no..no .. just apply topically to the proper height ...

this is not really any big deal at all.. every one of us told you that.. and you are still worrying ...

ken
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last month
i just noticed you have the pots wrapped in red bubble wrap .... lol ... why red??? ... not really necessary in your z7 for a plant winter hardy to z3 ... and in fact.. if it restricts FULL drainage.. could be a negative ....

anyway... when i was dabbling in growing trees in pots outside.. i found.. i was best off repotting EVERY spring ... and i also found that a media that was about half peat media and half mini chunks was just about perfect for the TOTAL absolute complete drainage ALL trees prefer when trapped in pots ...

i used about 50/50.. or you can invest in making al's famous 5-1-1 mix ... [what i made was very similar to orchid mix .... ]

anyway.. THAT is when you take care of this problem...NOT really in mid winter ...

ken
HU-8905233
Original Author
last month
Ken, thanks for the follow-ups!

I ended up getting cold feet (hah), so I decided not to do anything for now. I'm too worried I will damage the roots by trying to fix something that is probably not a big problem.

I will wait until spring and then repot them as I had planned to do anyway. I think I am going to try the 5-1-1 mix.

And yes, I wrapped in bubble wrap to insulate them. Red was the cheapest color! Because of the shape of the pot, I don't think it restricts drainage. They seem to drain just fine.

Thanks again!

What to do about frost-heaved Eastern hemlock cutting?

Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

BillMN-z-2-3-4

Related Discussions

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

HU-8905233
Original Author

BillMN-z-2-3-4

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

HU-8905233
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

What to do about frost-heaved Eastern hemlock cutting?

Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

BillMN-z-2-3-4

Related Discussions

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

HU-8905233Original Author

BillMN-z-2-3-4

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

HU-8905233Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

HU-8905233
Original Author

HU-8905233
Original Author