Assessing Winter Damage To Trees, Shrubs And Grasses

Winter can be cruel to your landscape.

Bitter winds. Hungry rabbits. Ice storms.

You might think it’s just severe cold that zaps your trees, shrubs and grasses. But fluctuations in temperature — cold to warm and back again — is actually more damaging.

Toss in some hungry critters, late summer pruning and lack of fall watering, and you get a landscape that needs some help come spring.

Now that spring is here, let’s take a look at how to assess the toll winter may have taken on your trees, shrubs and grasses — and what to do about it.

Winter Damage To Trees

Broken Branches

Heavy snow, ice and wind often cause tree branches to break. Dangling branches aren’t just unsightly — they’re a safety hazard, at risk of crashing to the ground at any time.

Now that winter is over, prune the broken twigs and branches back to within one quarter of an inch above a live bud or to the branch collar of the nearest live branch. This pruning not only neatens up the tree’s appearance and addresses any hazards, it also stimulates new growth.

Critter Damage

Mice, rabbits, voles and deer can nibble their way through your landscape all winter, causing severe damage. They munch on tender twigs, bark and foliage, sometimes completely removing the bark around a tree’s base, killing it.

Once the damage is done, there isn’t much you can do. If the damage isn’t too extensive, the tree might seal its wounds on its own.

Winter Burn On Evergreens

Do the needles on your evergreens look brown or scorched?

Narrow-leafed evergreens, like hemlock, juniper, pine and yew, and broad-leaved evergreens, including boxwood and rhododendron, are especially susceptible to winter burn, also called desiccation.

Winter sun and winds dry out needles. Water in the stems and roots is frozen, so it can’t replenish the loss.

Most leaves will fall or be pushed off by new growth, but those that don’t can be hand-stripped or pruned away.

Frost Cracks

Have you spied a long crack in the trunks of any of your trees? During periods of cold winter nights followed by warm sunny days, frost cracks can form. They can be several feet long and a few inches wide, caused by alternating freezing and thawing temperatures.

Don't worry too much about this. Trees often attempt to heal themselves by forming a callus along the crack.

Winter Damage To Shrubs

Frost Damage

When you inspect your shrubs, do you see new foliage that’s turned brown or back? New growth from late summer or early fall pruning might have been zapped by frost.

Damaged leaves and flowers may fall off by themselves, or you can prune to remove badly damaged or broken branches to help stimulate new growth. Most plants will produce new leaves if branches and buds haven’t been injured too severely.

Salt Burn

Salt does a nice job of melting ice, but it does a number on your landscape. Road runoff that contains dissolved salts not only injures plants directly but also can change the structure of the soil, causing it to become compacted. That means water, nutrients and oxygen can’t get to your plants, putting them under stress.

If you notice dried, burnt leaf edges, it’s likely salt damage.

Flush the area around the plants in early spring by applying two inches of water over two to three hours, repeating three days later. This will leach much of the salt from the soil.

Winter Damage To Grasses

Frost Heave

As you walk your property, check your ornamental grasses and other plants. Do you see any exposed roots? Plants that look heaved from the ground?

Frost heaving happens when repeated periods of soil freezing and thawing push plants out of the ground. This exposes their roots.

If you see a plant heaved from the ground, replant it as soon as the soil thaws.

Preventing Winter Damage Next Year

Once you know what kind of winter damage your landscape suffers, you can try to prevent it from happening again next year.

Avoid pruning in late summer. It stimulates new growth, which can get zapped by snow and ice.
Keep watering trees and shrubs — especially evergreens — right up until the ground freezes.
Use mulch to conserve soil moisture and insulate the roots from cold temperatures.
Protect evergreens from wind and salt spray with burlap screens.
Wrap the trunk and low branches of young trees with screen wire or hardware cloth from below the ground line to high enough above the possible snow line to prevent critters from reaching the trunk or branches.

Trust Your Property’s Landscaping To Level Green

At Level Green Landscaping, we’re experts in trees, shrubs and grasses. We know what’s best for your plants year-round, no matter what nature dishes out.

Puzzled about how to repair your landscaping's winter damage? We’d love to help.

We provide commercial property maintenance for properties throughout Washington DC, Maryland and parts of Virginia. Level Green Landscaping services commercial properties like office buildings, homeowner associations (HOAs), mixed use, condominiums, retail, institutions and government entities.

Assessing Winter Damage To Trees, Shrubs And Grasses