Have you started thinking about winterizing your trees and shrubs yet? Fall is a time of change and reorganization within a tree, and contractors can help trees survive and thrive with proper fall care.
Trees sense changing seasons in three ways: via a dormancy timer in the leaves; due to changing temperatures; and by the amount of light they get. Old leaves, buds and inner bark have a pigment that can tell the seasons. As the days shorten in fall, this pigment, called phytochrome, tells the tree to shutdown for the winter.
Trees prepare for winter through an organized process called senescence. This includes shutting down summer growth and conservation of valuable resources. A message is sent from the tissues with phytochrome, which signals senescence. Senescence brings both the fall colors and leads to renewed spring growth.
| CARE TIPS: Winterizing Your Trees |
Here are nine things you can do to winterize your tree: Trees are investments that require a small amount of care. For the sake of your tree’s quality of life and your own, take a few minutes to winterize your tree. Wonderful springs come from well-tended winters. - Second Nature Lawn Care |
Many of the materials a tree collected during the growth season are withdrawn from soon-to-be dead leaves. The last bit of tree food is stockpiled in the living cells of the outer annual growth rings. Twigs, branches and roots become the collection sites and warehouses of materials needed for the next season. Within the tree, biological doors and windows are being closed and locked. From the moment last spring’s green leaves expanded and began to make food, winter dormancy has been designed into the tree system. The process of spring and summer growth reset and started a dormancy timer that now hurries the tree preparations.
Most of the growing points in the tree are protected inside overcoats called buds. During the winter, each growing point waits for the correct message to signal a new season of growth. Only then will it be apparent whether the tree has put aside and saved enough resources to respond to the new season of growth.
Winter is a difficult time for trees. Trees must endure the drying and cold winds, food reserves must be carefully conserved for the coming needs of spring and water will be lost from the tree. Hungry animals will feed on the resting buds and twigs.
Little things can help your trees effectively survive a long winter. A few small investments now can payoff in a big way, yielding a healthy and structurally sound tree.
The author is owner of Second Nature Lawn Care, Nashville, Tenn.
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