I would like to dedicate the following blog entry to Mother Nature, who decided winter should start with a bang this year.

Two weeks ago I was driving home through the blowing snow and I noticed how beautiful the neighborhood trees looked, wrapped in holiday lights and dropping under the weight of heavy, wet snow.  The next morning I noticed that the same trees had broken limbs and were completely bowed under the weight.

Upright evergreens like arborvitae and juniper and mature specimens of spruce seem to have been hit the hardest.  I’ve taken several calls from people whose large paperbark birches succumbed to the elements.  Birches, in particular, don’t have very strong branches so are prone to breakage.  One woman had a large Austrian Pine planted on a slope and the snow actually caused the roots to heave out of the ground, the tree was buckling so much.  She wanted to know if we could come out and stake it straight again.  My advice to her, and anyone else with the same problem, is that yes, you could stake it upright, but it probably would be futile.  Evergreens really don’t like their roots being disturbed this late into fall/winter and though it might make it through to spring, it has been irrevocably stressed and will most likely not survive.  In cases such as these, you should probably start thinking about replacements.

But not all snow damage is irreversible.  The day after the storm, our crews were scrambling to remove the snow from the upright junipers and arborvitaes in our holding yard.  These narrow-form evergreens have a tendency to open up and spread apart at the top when too much snow is on them.  One way Johnson’s Nursery tries to prevent this is by training our upright evergreens to have a central leader.  They still may bend over at the top, but you have less chance of them spreading and snapping off.  At our tree farm in Jackson, casualties were fairly low, partly because of our growing techniques.

One of the 50 year old blue spruces outside our offices has a double leader and was starting to bend way over on the top.  Our arborist, Mike Gies, (don’t try this at home!) climbed up into its 30 foot canopy to cable the leaders together, giving the tree more strength for the next storm Mother Nature throws at us.

Now, the conditions of this particular snow storm were such that there wasn’t much time to knock the snow off before the temperatures dropped to sub-zero and the wet snow turned to ice on the branches.  You can still remove the snow at this point, but it becomes much more difficult without breaking off pieces of your tree in the process.  My best advice is to wait until we get a warm up like we’ve had the last few days to remove the excess snow.  The suns reflecting rays, even on a day like today in the 20’s, will loosen the snow and it can easily be GENTLY brushed off by hand or with a broom up higher This is also a good exercise for burning off holiday calories when you have sidewalks and driveways cleared and there is nothing left to shovel.  But again I say GENTLY brush off your trees.  Don’t take the pressures of the holiday season out on them.  It’s not the trees’ fault you couldn’t find parking at the mall, or the post office lost a package, or your in-laws are coming for an extended stay.

Have sagging limbs way up on top?  Please do not get out the ladder and start climbing.  Try firing up the leaf blower you thought was put away until spring.  It’s a handy trick for getting those branches just out of reach.  Just make sure you’re not downwind when doing this, or you’ll end up looking like a snowman.

I would like to close this dedication with a special message to Mother Nature, who inspired today’s topic.  Wisconsinites are made of tough stock and are used to your outbursts of temper.  We’ve seen what you have up your sleeve.  We’re ready for the next curve ball you throw at us.  Bring it on.  We stand poised with shovel, scraper, and ice melt.  Only….could you please warm it up just a tad so my car doors stop freezing shut at night?  I’m really tired of climbing in my car through the passenger side in the morning.
Thanks.