Skip to main content
Tag

Winter

Arboricultural Services Treework Ltd
In Trees in Winter

What Happens to Your Trees in Winter?

winter nature season trees

It’s common knowledge that during the winter months, trees become barer. What many people don’t know, however, is how trees are able to stay alive in the bitter cold and are in fact dormant, not dead.

Trees go through a process called dormancy which is similar to hibernation in animals and this is how they are able to stay alive.

What is Dormancy?

This is a period in the tree’s life cycle when its growth and development stop temporarily. The tree’s metabolism slows down significantly which in turn helps the tree to conserve more energy over the colder winter months.

The first part of this process is when the tree begins to lose its leaves. This is due to the tree not making food in the winter, so it no longer has any use for the leaves that would require energy to maintain. The dropping of leaves means deciduous trees can cope better with high winds and heavy snowfall because, without the leaves to act as big sail in the wind, the tree branches can bend and flex, hopefully without causing too much damage to them and the snow has a smaller area to land on.

Trees know when to start dormancy as they are sensitive to changes in environmental conditions such as a drop in temperature and a decrease in the amount of daylight they receive which are the two main factors that determine when a tree will rest for the winter.

Why is Winter a Good Time for Tree Maintenance?

Arborists are able to more easily access your trees with their tree care equipment when the ground surrounding your tree is frozen. Also, pruning deciduous trees in the winter promotes fast regrowth in the spring and decreases the chances for some tree diseases to spread. Pruning branches will leave your trees with open wounds that could possibly be a target for infections but as they conserve their energy in the winter, they have more energy available to concentrate on healing these wounds.

With deciduous trees, it’s also easier to identify any issues with the tree after the leaves have fallen. You’re more easily able to spot any branches that are diseased, dying or dead which means you will be more efficient with your pruning.

If you would like some tips or would like us to come and do the tree pruning then contact us on 0161 456 0989 or 01625 850 320.

How Can You Prepare Your Trees for Winter?

There are a few different ways you can prepare your trees for the cold to ensure they remain as healthy as possible. The first is to prune, as mentioned above, to give them a healthy start to winter.

Repeated freezing and thawing can cause the soil to expand and contract which can cause damage to the roots and pull saplings out of the ground. To counter this, make sure to try and maintain a more constant soil temperature by adding around 2 to 3 inches of mulch around the base of your tree at the end of autumn or the beginning of winter. This insulates the roots and significantly slows down any loss of moisture.

Make sure that you water your trees well before winter begins as the water acts as an insulator. Also, the moist soil tends to stay warmer than dry soil, so this can help to protect roots too.

You can find more methods on protecting your trees in the winter on the Royal Horticultural Society website here.

Get in Touch

If you need more advice on how best to protect your trees in the winter or what we can do to help then get in touch with our team on 0161 456 0989 or 01625 850 320.

Arboricultural Services Treework Ltd
In Tree Planting

A Guide to Professional Tree Planting

Tree Branches with light shining through

Spring is getting closer every month which means that planting season is right around the corner.

Here at Arboricultural Services Treework Ltd in Manchester and Stockport, we have put together a simple guide to tree planting so that you can be prepared, with our help, when Spring finally arrives.

Replacement and New Trees

Every year we are asked to replace old and damaged trees with new ones for our clients and we are also asked regularly to plant new trees in gardens and large commercial areas. As experts when it comes to tree planting, we understand the imperative needs certain trees have and when you should plant them throughout the year.

As trees can often outlive humans on earth and also become homes for other species, it is important that you give your trees the best start in life possible.

First Steps to Consider

You first need to choose the tree that works in your space naturally and not pick a tree that wouldn’t be healthy or able to grow. It is so vital that you choose the right tree for the right space you are working with to avoid possible future issues like the tree becoming unhealthy, cramped and with poor nutritional levels.

Then comes the planting part which also plays a huge importance in the healthy life cycle of the tree in your garden.

Planting Your Trees

Once you have chosen the tree and where you would like to plant your tree, the next steps are how to carefully plant your tree to make sure it grows healthily from the start. Following the next steps will make sure that your tree experiences reduced stress as it settles in at its new home.

  1. Find where the roots flare

When you find where the roots flare from the trunk, you will be able to know how deep you have to dig in order to make sure that this area of the tree is at ground level and visible above the soil. If this area of the tree is buried, you can actually be suffocating the tree so make sure you follow this step carefully.

  1. Make sure the hole is the right size

The size of the root ball and the trunk will determine the size of the hole you need to dig before planting your tree. Like in step one, you need to make sure it isn’t too deep or too shallow and try to also loosen surrounding soils for a natural flow of nutrients and water to the roots once buried.

  1. Straighten your tree

Planting a tree that isn’t straight at first will lead to potentially hazardous problems in the future. A wonky tree is more likely to fall over and damage its surrounding as well as grow unhealthily and damaged. Once your tree is planted it will be hard to alter the straightness so make sure it is straight before you fill in the hole.

  1. Use stakes when necessary

The tree can sometimes need supporting with stakes in its early life as it will be weak and narrow. Most larger trees don’t need stakes to stand and the tightly packed soil can often be enough but in the circumstances where you need to use stakes, you need to use robust and durable materials that are weatherproof also.

  1. Keep the moisture in

It is important that your tree has access to moisture at all times and this can be achieved by carefully digging the hole and avoiding damaging the surrounding soils. The soil on top around the tree roots and trunk will need to be professionally mulched leaving around three inches of thickness and a small gap between the trunk and soil to allow moisture in and out and avoid moulding.

Get in Touch

To arrange professional tree planting at your property in Manchester, Stockport and surrounding areas, call us today on 0161 456 0989 or 01625 850 320. If you are looking to improve the overall look and feel of your woodland area and need some professional advice, just give us a call and we are more than happy to advise you on the next steps to take.

Arboricultural Services Treework Ltd
In Fruit Trees

Care for Your Fruit Trees Properly in Autumn

Care for Your Fruit Trees Properly in Autumn

Now that summer is well and truly over, it’s about time you looked at how to care for your trees in the up and coming autumn months.

If you are one of those lucky enough to have fruit trees in your garden area, then you will only be too familiar with the problem that arises when autumn arrives. After you have gathered all of your apples, pears or whatever fruit tree you have, you will then need to apply the proper care and treatment methods to keep your tree thriving all year round.

Are You Noticing Rotting?

If you have clear signs of rotting fruit or leaves, it’s time to call it a day for your summer of fruits. Once apples, pears and often plums start to show signs of brown rot, you need to remove them from the tree and dispose of them correctly.

If you were to let them fall to the ground below, they will decay on the soil and the disease will then lie on the ground, affecting future growth. One of the mistakes most fruit tree owners make is to just let rotten fruit fall for the birds, please don’t do this because you will regret it next summer!

Pests Are Writhe

Winter and autumn also see many pests coming out to find their home, especially snails and slugs. The problem with rotten fruit and fallen leaves is that slugs and snails will bed down in them for the winter and will once again affect next year’s growth and the health of the tree.

Top Tip – attach sticky grease bands to the base of your trees to stop winter months laying their eggs there.

Adding the preventative techniques will also “prevent the wingless female moths that emerge from pupae in the soil in November, from crawling up the tree to the branches”, Express. Any eggs that are laid on your trees will eventually hatch and will be looking for anything to feed on, including your spring blossoms. They can also eat the growth of any surrounding trees or plants like your roses and shrubs.

Planting New Fruit Trees

When it comes to planting trees, Arboricultural Services Treework Ltd here in Manchester and Stockport are experts. We suggest the best time of the year to be planting your fruit trees is in the October to December time but make sure that you are well aware of how large the roots are so that when it comes to summer, you aren’t left with a tree you can’t control.

This is also the best time to prune your trees so that you can get a good and fair cycling of fruiting wood. By making sure they are well pruned by our experts you be sure to have a productive tree when summer comes around that is perfectly shaped for growth.

Top Tip – “Trees can suffer cold damage in winter and spring, which may affect fruit production” so keep an eye on this all year round (RHS).

Get in Touch

To find out more about how to care for your fruit trees or to ask our advice with your growth, call us on 0161 456 0989. We provide pruning at the most suitable times of year, so what are you waiting for?

Close Menu

A First Digital Media Website