Monday, November 2, 2009

Winterizing




Pretty soon it is going to get freaky-deaky cold here on the Canadian Prairies. In Brandon, we can expect night time temperatures to regularly hit -30 C (about -28 F, really cold!). Hopefully, this won't happen until January or February, but you never know! Plus, it's hard to winterize if there's already two feet of snow on the ground, also expected. So the chores are on the To D0 list now. Farmer Boy has already hauled straw which we put around our sun room for extra insulation, he's boxed up and insulated the air conditioner that's built into the wall of the office. And I've protected the newly planted fruit trees. Young trees, and for some reason especially fruit trees, can be prone to winter cracking. The theory is that the sun artificially warms the bark and raises the temperature. The sun goes down, it's freaky-deaky cold and the bark cools rapidly. Expansion and contraction occur and the bark can split. Sometimes it's fatal, sometimes not. Certainly always rather unsightly. So something to keep the sun off is applied - hence the white tree guards I installed. In 'olden' days, people frequently painted the bark, but research shows that is not the best plan because bark actually has breathing holes called lenticels which can get all gummed up by paint. The tree guards are also very helpful against young trees' other winter enemy: rodents and small critters. Mice, raccoons, skunks, beavers will all look for a tasty winter meal on the trunks of young trees. They can strip the bark and go deeper, killing the tree. Part of the trick I learned early in Manitoba is to go higher than one guard - my first summer here I heard of a fellow who lost all his young trees when critters got on top of the snow and ate above his lone tree guard!

6 comments:

  1. I have never seen tree guards sold anywhere. Where can I purchase them locally (Brandon). I have two fruit trees that I have neglected. I wrapped cardboard around them for now but would like something else. The harsh winter and jack rabbits target my fruit trees.
    Thanks.

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    1. I've always gotten mine at the Green Spot - just ask for tree guards! On my younger trees, as you can see, I often put two to get higher up the trunk. As the snow level increases in winter, the rabbits will get on top of the snow and nibble higher up on the trunk!

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    2. I tape long hay around my fruit tree trunk and on hay i spray lestoil 1-4
      with water

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    3. I'm not familiar with lestoil....what is that?

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    4. It is a strong smelling liquid soap used to clean floor mostly.You find this in most store.Hay absorb soap; this stop wind,let breath,stop sunray,stop many fungus,have some repellent against mices.I don't have rabits but they will smelt and eat before to reach bark trunk.Zone2b

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  2. To protect my ground or my sensible fruit tree roots i make ice 3'ft around trunk spacing few inches from trunk, end december at -20c.Top,I mix handfull white bred floor in 5 gal pail water to make it hard to melt or cover white plastic.Ice is a mice stop too.BenoitZone2b

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