How to Prep Your Trees for Cold Winter Months

Hire an Arborist Near You to Take Care of the Trees on Your Property

Deciduous trees go dormant in the winter, but to help them stay healthy through Kansas City ice storms, cold temperatures, and snowfall, you need to practice proper tree care, especially for younger trees with less extensive root systems.

If you’re living in a brand-new house in a brand-new subdivision, this applies to you! The small trees in your yard in Parkville, Overland Park, and surrounding areas rely on you to prepare them for winter.

If you need help determining what steps to take, contact one of our tree arborists to help you, and review these tips for DIY tree care.

Water your tree when appropriate. 

Before you put away your garden hose, water young trees around their base, and as far out as the length of their longest branches. We recommend doing so slowly, with a soaker hose or sprinkler, for a total of about 10 gallons per inch of tree diameter.

On warmer days - at least 40 degrees - with no snow on the ground for the past two weeks, water your young trees during the winter.

This advice applies to both deciduous trees - those that lose their leaves in the winter - and coniferous ones - evergreen trees like pines and firs.

Mulch the base of your trees.

Wood chips, bark, and organic mulch insulate around your tree’s root system, reduce soil evaporation, and improve water absorption.

Apply mulch between two and four inches deep around the base of your young trees.

If you don’t want to purchase mulch, put those fallen autumn leaves to good use as mulch. You can then blend the excess into the yard by mowing them up. This process helps your lawn retain nutrients over the winter and provides free food for your grass as the leaves decompose.

Wrap the tree trunk.

Trees with thinner bark, like certain types of maples, could develop cracks during periods of extreme cold temperatures. To help prevent damage, purchase commercial tree wrap and wrap the trunks up to the first branches. You can remove the wrap in the spring, usually in March or very early April, once the threat of deep freezing is over.

Not every tree needs to be wrapped in preparation for winter; ask a Kansas City arborist if your trees need it.
 

Put off pruning until later in the winter, with help from a certified arborist near you.

Assuming your trees don’t have broken or falling branches that could pose a danger to humans, pets, and property, avoid tree pruning until later in the winter to encourage proper limb and branch growth. 

Pruning is best done while trees are dormant because the process ultimately encourages new growth. So, when the spring rolls around, your trees are ready to liven back up after a cold winter and use the encouragement that pruning provides.

Always prune just outside the point where a branch joins a larger one - an area called the “branch collar” - and never remove a branch without having a good reason for doing so. Finally, avoid trimming large limbs without the guidance and help from an expert, as it can be quite dangerous if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing.

In these instances, it’s best to call Arb Tech. We’ll send out a team of arborists to properly and safely prune and trim your tree and clean up afterward, leaving your yard looking as good as it did when we first arrived.

Why focus on younger trees before winter?

Young trees are less established than older ones, which means their root systems are shorter and more shallow. This makes them much more susceptible to the elements, including heavy ice weighing down branches, cold temperatures, and drought.

Larger, established trees tend to survive winter without as much struggle, because they’ve developed the necessary roots and have adapted to their environment in past years.

Hire a tree arborist to keep your trees in tip-top shape.

For the last six years, Arb Tech has been providing professional tree care on commercial and residential properties in Platte, Clay, and Jackson counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas.

We are International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) certified arborists - a voluntary program that tests our knowledge and proves our expertise. Because of our dedication to ongoing training and green industry learning, we’re always striving to be the best arborists in Kansas City.

When it’s time to prepare your young trees for the upcoming winter season, call us at Arb Tech, or request an appointment on our website, at treekc.com.