Protecting your trees from winter damage

Sunscald in Boise area

Sun scald is the most common winter damage we get in this area, especially on young trees.

Sunscald is recognized as a freezing and thawing process that cracks and damages the bark on young trees from November through February.

Our climate is getting more humid in the winter, this humidity penetrates young bark making in soaked in moisture. This moisture does not evaporate but is held by the bark and easily freezes in that it is very exposed. That freezing process naturally expands the bark just as it does if you put a water bottle in your freezer. Then the sun comes out and thaws the bark which contracts the bark.

The young bark is pliable and can withstand this process a few times, but then we get days where we hover right at freezing, the sun hitting the bark on the SW side quickly melts the frost, then goes behind a cloud and the freezing temperature quickly freezes and expands the bark. This can happen dozens of times during the day and the bark begins to tear and damage the fragile cell structure in the tissue below the cork bark. That cell structure is the phloem and xylem layer which is equivalent to our veins and arteries. These arteries become damaged and when the tree goes into spring, the arteries do not support that area and the visible tissue death can be seen as in the photo above.

Here is a video I did with a close up of a tree here in the Boise area Click Here.

Fortunately Sunscald is not difficult to prevent, you just have to remember to do it. The basic idea is you want to shield the tree bark from the sun so it will not freeze and thaw quickly. You might have seen old orchards with the bark painted white, this was the early method however paint is not good for tree cells. A wrap is often used but this can harbor moisture and insects, both of which can do damage to the young bark. What I like is simple cardboard like the cardboard you probably had around the tree when you got it from the nursery.

 

Or you can take plastic pipe like this but be sure to not tear the bark when getting it around the tree.

 

 

Planting a Tree in late fall

The Good and the Bad of planting trees in the fall

Fall is cooler which means less stress on trees, however this doesn't mean it's the best time to plant any kind of tree.

Keep in mind that Evergreens, like pine trees, are actually going to work hard all winter long, so they will still have growth stress. With that in mind, they still would rather work hard in cooler weather than 100 degree heat.

Decidua, or leaf trees, drop their leaves and shut down into dormancy in the winter which means they are doing little to no work so little to no stress. So decidua trees do well planted in the fall.

Now the bad; no mater the type of tree, water is still an issue. Far less for the leaf tree but you don't want the tree to wake up in a completely dry base around the new feeder roots pushing out. You can't see these roots so you will not know when they need water. Often it is far before the lawn irrigation is started up and we forget to help these newly planted trees in early spring.

For the Evergreen tree, they will need slow watering all winter which is near impossible if we are having freezing nights which will break the hose.

The answer I have used is to encourage fall planting but insist that hose is kept in the garage ready to go out and water the trees. This is done at the time of planting for the decidua then put on the calendar to do once in late February and once a week in March and April until the water is turned on. For the Evergreen I want to water it once a week all through winter if at all possible. This doesn't have to be a flood of water, a soaker hose for four or five hours is usually enough. But do not guess, get the water meter we talk about at www.diylawntime.blogspot.com and check to be sure.

Landscaping in the Fall instead of Spring

Spring fever usually sparks landscape plans and ideas, but it really isn't the best time to find the best deals on those projects.

Trees and plants put in the spring weather often get hit with a quick heat warm up as they are going through transplant shock.

Everyone is scrambling to get to their spring landscape so contractors are hard to find and often charge more.

If you can take those spring ideas and hold them until October or even November, you're going to have a few advantages.

1. Most plants will be dormant and loss due to transplant shock will be less.

2. Contractors will have more time to work on your project and it will most likely be better quality.

3. The lawn will be dry and dormant resulting in less injury from equipment and foot traffic.

4. Close out sales on plants and landscape features can get you some great budget deals.

Disadvantages
1. The biggest is that a lot of plants still need water at the time of planting which means hoses need to be used and if you're not careful, can freeze.

2. Plant stock has been picked through and there may not be a lot of options. It's not a bad idea to shop through the nurseries and pick out stock through the summer. You can create an area next to your house to put these plants and keep them wet until you are ready to plant. The shock is the same whether those plants sit at a nursery or in your yard. Don't trust the nursery to hold them for you, too many times I've lost plants due to unscrupulous people taking off the red sold sticker so they can take the plant.

3. You can get caught with a early snow or frozen ground, but usually you can time it with the forecast. Frozen ground should not have pavers put in or they will fail.

So even though your thoughts are on school, football and raking leaves, this is a good time to get that landscape project done and be ready to simply enjoy spring.

Choosing Trees for our Landscape

Right Tree in the Right Space

 
Several factors need to be considered when choosing a tree to put in your yard.

One of course is how big can the tree get, will it outgrow the space? Making sure you have enough room for the tree to grow is the biggest mistake we see in landscaping.

Second is beauty. A Linden has a beautiful canopy whereas a Black Locust actually looks twisted and ugly. Try to find some mature trees you like and then find out what they are.

Third is maintenance. This is so often overlooked. A willow will shed branches and make a mess all year long. A Sycamore will  hold it's leaves through the winter making a mess of the yard allowing snow to pack the leaves down.
Maple leaves can be large and take a lot of clean up time, whereas an Ash leaf comes down quickly in early fall, is small and easy to clean up.

The tree has a function too, and we'll get into that a bit more later, but the shade requirement, how the tree positions on the South West side during the worse heat of July and August; all of these need to be considered.

Landscape Focal Point

                                              Focal Point
So many yards have landscape installed with no concept of creating a focal point. Large yards, especially the one and five acre lots are flat and boring with no character.

A yard that has too many themes or character items becomes confusing and messy feeling.

A Focal Point is taking a theme or item that you want your guest to be drawn to creating a feeling or atmosphere.

This starts with finding the most common spot a person stands or visits, then looking out from that viewpoint and finding a location you would want to draw their attention to.

If it's a small yard, it might be to the farthest point in the yard so the area feels larger.

If it's a open space, you would want to create a area to draw their attention to that would be interesting then create that environment in that area.

Pathways can lead a person to the point. The photo on the right invites you into this bungalow and makes you feel the environment without even going into the actual structure.

If you wanted to make if feel farther away, you would make the stepping stones smaller and smaller as they approached the building.

This is a very plain yard, but the focal point makes it feel like something special.

Often we use smaller furniture such as a little tea table and chairs that are small so the focal point looks farther away.

It's not an item necessarily to be used but a feeling or environment you want to convey.

Here is an excellent example of a Focal Point crating a feeling or environment.

A bit mysterious it makes the yard feel much larger and very unique.

But when we dissect what is really creating the "feel", we have some pavers, a small rock arch for hardscape, a couple of shrubs and low maintenance English beds on the sides ending with a back drop plain tree. Really not that expensive but what an affect.

Go through google images and type in Landscape Focal Point ideas until you get something that draws your eye.

It may be a simple self contained water feature you see at D&B, now take that item and put it in a area off the back patio or as your drive into the yard. There is your focal point. Now how do you draw a persons eye to it. You can frame it and put in a dry river bed look winding toward the driveway. The eye will follow that to the feature. Maybe a $1,600 investment that completely changes  your yard.

Landscaping for Curb Appeal

We used to call it my "Grandfather rule", the joke in my family was that when told my Grandfather company was coming, he'd go clean the barn. Well that's the last thing the guests were going to see. Better to start with the very front and work back to the barn.

This is a fundamental so many landscape projects neglect. That first impression is everything, and it starts with the front driveway or entryway.

Next time you drive into your home, take the time to really "look" at what your guests see when they first drive up. Are there overgrown shrubs, damage to the shutters, dead flowers or plants? Re-evaluate what could be done to the front entry to spice it up. A few well placed landscape rocks, a few day lilies in the right locations, maybe a new tree, and most importantly, make it all flow to the front door as an invitation.

Be sure to keep it simple. One of the problems we will address is overbuilding with something like a water feature, but then forgetting the maintenance because you seldom use your front door.

The flow or central viewpoint is very important in narrowing the focus to what you want the guest to see.

Maintenance and cleanup should always start at the front of the house and work to the back.

Welcome to Green Team Landscape

The corporation was originally formed over fifteen years ago as a central connection of the best Contractors in the Yard Care business. No ONE company can be an expert at every area of Land Care Management; creating a Team of the best experts in their field, and managing the operation to insure it is coordinated properly, is the main function on a landscape project.

Ted Smith started the company with this objective when he owned a large Landscape company called Smithyards operating it the Boise/Eagle/Meridian area.  After selling Smithyards to the TrueGreen Landcare company he focused his attention on Tree Care and Pest Control. However Tree Care is often associated with a need to change the Landscape design especially in drainage issues. Now Green Team Management LLC operates as a Project Manager to make sure the landscape design is done correctly.