Your trees need you.
Pre-spring and early spring months can bring periods of heavy, wet snowfall, which can lead to severe tree damage like splitting and broken branches. As soon as it’s safe to be outside, get out there with a long-handled broom and knock the heavy snow off all the limbs you can reach.
Trees are vulnerable.
Temperature fluctuations common in the early pre-spring months can lead to freeze thaw damage and sunscald, as seen in the Austrian pine pictured above. This tree is still alive, but its vigor and vitality have been affected enough that its lifespan will be much shorter. To protect your trees from the effects of sunscald, paint the exposed tree trunks with a 50-50 solution of water and a water-based white latex paint.
If the damage is already done, do your best to protect the vulnerable tree from invaders like insects and animals by spraying the trunk with horticultural oil every spring, especially any areas of scarring. Repeat these applications during the hot, extra-buggy, summer months. Take care not to apply oil to the tree’s canopy, though, because it can burn in the sun.
