Winterizing Trees: Dormant Season Preparations

Have you winterized your trees yet? Fall is a time of serious change and reorganization within a tree.

Trees sense the changing seasons by the temperature, by a dormancy timer in the leaves, and by the amount of light they receive. The old leaves, buds, and inner bark all have a pigment that reads the seasons of the year. As the days shorten in fall, this pigment called phytochrome, tells the tree to close-down for the winter.

Getting ready for winter in an organized way is called senescence. Within a tree, a message is sent from the tissues with phytochrome which signals senescence. Senescence in trees is an ordered shutting-down of summer growth and the conservation of valuable resources. Senescence brings both the fall colors and leads to renewed spring growth.

Many of the materials a tree collected or manufactured during the growth season are withdrawn from soon-to-be dead leaves. Tree waste materials are left behind. 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 another season to come.

Within the tree, biological doors and windows are being closed and locked. From the moment last Spring’s green leaved 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. 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 stand in the face of drying and cold winds. Food reserves must be carefully conserved for the coming needs of Spring. Water continues to be lost from the tree. Any creature needing a meal chews and nibbles on the resting buds and twigs. Trees stand alone against all circumstances that the winter season can generate.

What can you do to help your valuable trees? Little things can make your trees more effective and efficient at surviving a long winter. A few small investments now can pay-off in a large way, yielding a healthy and structurally sound tree.

A list of “Helpful Hints” – things you can do to winterize your trees:

1. Remove or correct structural faults and deadwood that are clearly visible. Try to make small pruning cuts that minimize the exposure of the central heartwood core on branches.

2. Properly prune branches that will touch the ground when loaded with rain and snow. Foliage and branches that are in contact with soil can invite undesirable pests and problems.

3. Remove damaged and declining twigs, branches, and bark. Do not leave pests food and shelter for the winter.

4. Remove any new sprouts that have grown at the tree base, or along stems and branches. Pruning should conserve as many living branches as possible with only a few selective cuts.

5. Spread a thin layer of composted organic mulch to blanket the soil. Cover an area at least as large as the branch spread. Mulch is nature’s of recycling valuable materials, but be careful of pests hitching a ride.

6. Properly wrap new trees that have not developed a corky bark and could be easily damaged. Mechanical injury from the environment, including chewing and rubbing by animals, must be prevented.

7. Fertilize with all the essential elements, if they are in short supply within the soil. Be sure to go lightly with nitrogen, especially under large, mature trees and around newly planted trees. It is critical to use slow release nitrogen sources for fall fertilization.

8. Watering may be needed where soils are cool but not frozen, and there has been little precipitation. Winter droughts need treatment with water the same as summer droughts, except it is much easier to over-water in winter.

9. 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.

Landscape Associates can help make sure your tress are well prepared for the upcoming winter. Call us today to schedule an appointment. Ask about winterizing your trees and other fall landscaping options. 888-319-8503

Southern lawns are under attack. Fall armyworms are chewing their way through turf, leaving destruction in their wake.

           Fall Armyworm

Fall armyworms are the larval or caterpillar stage of a nondescript, small gray moth which overwinters in Florida and the tropics. Each year, storms bring the adult moths north. The females lay masses of up to 700 eggs on just about everything. The eggs are cream-colored at first, but turn darker as the tiny caterpillars get ready to hatch.

The first battalion of females lays eggs in the south of the state. Succeeding generations march up the state, traveling on weather fronts and storms. Fall armyworms can’t overwinter in the northern areas of the state. They may survive a mild winter in Florida and extreme south Georgia or Alabama. The caterpillars hatch from eggs in two to four days, depending on the temperature. Eggs develop to fully grown larvae in two to four weeks. The larvae burrow into the soil and form pupae. Moths emerge in about 14 days.

The first sign that enemy armyworms are near might be large clusters of birds on your lawn. Look closer at the grass, and you may see several caterpillars munching on the turf blades. Although birds eat armyworm caterpillars, they are no match for hundreds of them on one lawn. When hundreds or thousands of armyworms are present, however, homeowners may opt to kill worms with an insecticide .

Young armyworms are one-quarter to three-quarters of an inch long. Mature ones are one and a half inches long. They are dark, with several light stripes down the length of the body. The head or “face” has an inverted Y on it. If you suspect your turf is being infiltrated but can’t find the caterpillars on the grass, use a soap flush to bring them to the surface.

Armyworms rarely kill grass, but some lawns may be severely weakened. Feeding damage, coupled with damage from the recent drought, may justify applying insecticides. In turf or pastures, finding five caterpillars per square foot is a signal to start treating for fall armyworms. Carbaryl (Sevin), pyrethroids and other recommended insecticides are effective caterpillar killers.

Products containing Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) are effective only on little (a half-inch or smaller) worms. Irrigate before treating, to move the caterpillars out of the thatch. Treat in late afternoon, when the caterpillars are likely to begin feeding. If possible, mow before you treat, and then don’t mow for three days after the treatment.

Source(s):  Will Hudson, Extension Entomologist, The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

For information on identifying armyworms and other pests or fungi, contact Landscape Associates – 1(888)319-8503. Let us rid your lawn of Armyworms and other pests.

Recipe: Caramel Apple Dessert

60  Vanilla wafers, finely crushed (about 2 cups)

1/3 cup  butter or margarine, melted

1  pkg. (8 oz.)

Cream Cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

3-1/4  cups  milk, divided

1  tub (8 oz.)  COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

2 pkgs. Instant Vanilla Pudding

1/2 cup  caramel ice cream topping, divided

1 each red and green apple, chopped

1/4 cup peanuts, chopped