has been quite a bit of winter damage showing up especially on evergreens such as boxwood, holly, yews, junipers etc. Aside from broken branches due to the snow and ice you may notice unusual browning of leaves and/or needles. And the reason it is just starting to become visible is because evergreens have a waxy coating on their leaves or needles that protects them from drying out. Any damage that was caused by this past harsh winter and the extreme cold winds would normally start showing up when the temperature warms up. You can equate this to buying a cut Christmas tree. It was cut, shipped, stood in a sales yard, went into your house for a few weeks, got thrown out in the yard and laid there for another month or two and was still green even though it was dead as soon as it was cut. You only noticed that it turned brown and lost it's needles when the weather warmed up. So, be warned.....there is probably more damaged yet to show it's ugly face.
 |
|
winter dessication on Dwarf Alberta Spruce
|
 |
Damage to juniper
|
 |
Boxwood damage
|
Now, lets chat about damage not to evergreens but to deciduous plants...the ones that lose their leaves in the fall. Damage to these plants may take awhile to show up also since there are no existing leaves to give up a sign. Once these plants do leaf out you may find that some branches do not get leaves on them or entire canes are dead. Your only recourse here is to either prune out the dead and hope for the best as deciduous plants will often send out new shoots from below, or as a last resort ( if too much of it is dead ).....offer it up to the burn pile and replace it with a new one. You might ask yourself, so, why should I replace it since the same thing could happen to the next one?
Well, this is true. However, keep in mind that this was the worse winter we have had in over 20 years so if you replace it will you really care if it dies in another 20 years?
Other damage you may be noticing to your deciduous trees and shrubs may look something like this....
Yes this type of damage was caused by the extreme conditions this winter but only as an indirect result. The culprit responsible for this was none other than a hungry rabbit. When food sources are low due to ice and snow build up rabbits walk right over on top of everything and have themselves a nice juicy meal feasting on the cambium layer just under the bark. The problem with this is that, like beavers, they don't just nibble on one side.... they wind up completely girdling the tree or shrub which kills that particular branch in the case of a shrub or an entire single trunk tree.
The above damage is pretty noticeable but what about damage like this that isn't readily visible? This too was an indirect result of our severe winter but what caused this?
You guessed it!.... Mice!
Yep, these sometimes cute little critters burrow under excessive mulch to not only stay warm but also to get themselves a nice meal when food is scare such as this winter's snow and ice pack. So, if you wind up with a dead tree in your yard and you can't see any particular reason for it...move the mulch away and take a peek. Mouse damage is usually more severe when your trees are surrounded by tall grass, weeds or excessive mulch. This is a perfect example of why you should keep the area around your trees mowed and /or cleaned. If you do put mulch around your trees, and you should, NEVER let it build up to more than 2-3" and ALWAYS keep the mulch away from the trunk a good 4-6".
Another method for preventing this type of winter damage from rabbits and mice is a bit more involved but if you really want to stop these guys try lightly wrapping the trunk and lower branches with "screen wire" or "hard ware cloth". You will need to bury this below ground and let it extend up to a height that would prevent the little bunnies from reaching up above the snow and gnawing on the lower branches.
Other than that...fried rabbit, cream gravy and mashed potatoes or noodles is a fine treat! Not sure about mouse though!
