CONIFER WINTER DAMAGE (Browning) 2019
This Winter has been terrible for Conifers right across the prairies. We are part of a national organization for Nursery growers and most Tree Nurseries have experienced significant damage to their crops, right from 1' high conifers, up to 12' high and beyond. Many of these Nurseries have been in existence for 30+ years and all of them say that this is the worst they have ever seen. This is not localized to Edmonton, it is right from Manitoba and into some parts of B.C. .
It is always hard to pinpoint exactly why some Winters cause worse damage than others but our best educated guess is this. The extended period of 3-4 weeks in late January to February of -25C as highs and down to -40C as lows caused significant desiccation to the needles. We then had a very large snow pack which persisted to late March in most places. As the Sun gets more intense in the sky, the reflection off the snow adds to the burning of these conifers and it results in kind of a double hit for these Conifers.
There is good news and bad news in this situation. The bad news is, that where ever you see Brown or Purple needles from the burning, they will likely drop over the next month or two. The good news is, that the tree is still fully alive and the buds are almost always still good. The buds will emerge and form new needles, but there will be a significant bare patch depending on the severity of the burn, for a couple seasons while it recovers.
Younger trees, tend to recover a little quicker than the older trees. There is very little that can be done in these situations to prevent this occurrence from happening. If they are smaller evergreens they can be sprayed in the Fall with an anti-dessicant and reapplied mid-Winter. Some people will wrap their smaller evergreens (10' and Under) with Burlap for the Winter to help as well.
I hope this information helps. It doesn't lessen the disappointment of home owners, landscapers, and also Nurseries who are left with thousands of dollars of damaged stock that should ultimately recover, but look poor for a couple growing seasons.
It is always hard to pinpoint exactly why some Winters cause worse damage than others but our best educated guess is this. The extended period of 3-4 weeks in late January to February of -25C as highs and down to -40C as lows caused significant desiccation to the needles. We then had a very large snow pack which persisted to late March in most places. As the Sun gets more intense in the sky, the reflection off the snow adds to the burning of these conifers and it results in kind of a double hit for these Conifers.
There is good news and bad news in this situation. The bad news is, that where ever you see Brown or Purple needles from the burning, they will likely drop over the next month or two. The good news is, that the tree is still fully alive and the buds are almost always still good. The buds will emerge and form new needles, but there will be a significant bare patch depending on the severity of the burn, for a couple seasons while it recovers.
Younger trees, tend to recover a little quicker than the older trees. There is very little that can be done in these situations to prevent this occurrence from happening. If they are smaller evergreens they can be sprayed in the Fall with an anti-dessicant and reapplied mid-Winter. Some people will wrap their smaller evergreens (10' and Under) with Burlap for the Winter to help as well.
I hope this information helps. It doesn't lessen the disappointment of home owners, landscapers, and also Nurseries who are left with thousands of dollars of damaged stock that should ultimately recover, but look poor for a couple growing seasons.
