During the cold season, both mature trees and seedlings are susceptible to the negative effects of sub-zero temperatures, and can also suffer from hares and small rodents, for which the bark is a tempting food.
Preparation for warming
It is necessary to start preliminary work with the onset of the autumn months. Find out in advance all the information on how to cover apple tree seedlings for the winter. Prior to this, the trees must be plentifully watered and fertilized. First, clear the ground of rotten fruits and various debris. When laying humus, make sure that the layer thickness is at least 5 cm - it will not only insulate, but also provide top dressing of the root system. It is also important to know about the preparatory stages, and not just about how to cover apple trees for the winter. Preparing apple trees for winter is an opportunity to provide them with the necessary amount of nutrients in the fall. In the spring, all your labors will be rewarded. If you are dealing with creeping apple trees, then do not forget to bend down their branches and fix them using iron hooks. Then you need to sketch the earth around the trunk - this way, during frosts, the tree will be better protected.
After the onset of cold weather, watering stops. Tree pruning is also carried out before temperatures drop below freezing. After the end of leaf fall, you can take on the removal of dead bark of trunks, whitewashing trees. At this point, stock up on a solution of ferrous sulfate, which can prevent the appearance of lichen. After completing the preparatory work, carefully study the question of how to insulate an apple tree for the winter.
What to cover?
The protection of the tree in severe frosts will directly depend on the choice of material for insulation. It is recommended to use cane, sunflower stalks, tobacco, reeds, roofing paper or light-colored wrapping paper. Avoid film and roofing felt, because during a thaw, such insulation can become an enemy of the apple tree. Earthen mounds around the trunk will help not only save the tree from the cold, but also protect it from hares. Please note: the soil must be dry and loose. After laying in the ditches, the seedlings must be covered with spruce branches, cardboard, straw, glass. Suitable for this and the old linoleum.
Shelter of crowns should be carried out with the onset of winter (if there is a suitable amount of snow). If you fixed the branches to the ground, then cover them with a white cover. Next, the crown can be closed with burlap, and snow can be poured onto the edges and insulated, leaving no loopholes for rodents. It is very important to figure out in advance how best to cover apple trees for the winter. If you do this before the snow falls, you can inadvertently docozy minks with enough tasty provisions for mice. Therefore, you need to know exactly how to insulate an apple tree for the winter, otherwise in the spring instead of branches you can find only bare sticks. But don't wait for severe frosts either to insulate branches and crowns.
Adult apple trees and seedlings
How to insulate an apple tree for the winter if it is still young? Autumn seedlings, of course, need to be given more attention. Build a paper shelter a short distance from the ground, for this you will need a lot of newspapers (in several layers). It is very important to know how to cover apple tree seedlings for the winter, because they suffer the most during severe frosts. As for trees that no longer belong to young plantings, they should also be insulated, but it will be enough to cover the near-stem circle so that the roots do not suffer during frosts. Earth is suitable as an insulating material (taken, for example, from row spacing). Mulching also helps increase the temperature of the soil and keep it from freezing. The best materials are natural: sawdust, straw, leaves, peat, humus, tree bark, etc. You can also use thin branches and crushed cones.
Please note
If the temperature rises, in this case, careful covering can lead to overheating of the kidneys. To prevent it, open and ventilate seedlings (mature trees too). Do not allow the soil to become damp - this can cause rotting of the root system. Free the trunkscircles from insulation materials as soon as possible, because the soil needs to warm up in the sun, and the roots grow.
Protection against rodents
An experienced gardener is sure that you need to know not only how to insulate a planted apple tree for the winter, but also how to protect it from mice and hares. Especially when it comes to young and creeping apple trees. With the onset of spring, damaged trees can get sick and will not bear fruit. Synthetic fabric will be a good helper when sheltering the trunk and branches from small rodents. Wrap the basal neck of young plantings with old stockings. When placing the covering material, make sure that there are no loopholes and small spaces left - the mice will try to get to the tender bark of the seedlings. Also, the lower part of the trunk can be protected with tar paper.
Snow myths
There is an opinion that the white winter cover can also serve as additional insulation. Many advise shoveling snow closer to the trunks of apple trees. However, in no case should this be done, because in this way you remove it from the row spacing where the root system is located (additional insulation is very necessary here). By removing the natural winter cover, you leave unprotected soil to freeze. Also, at the same time, you deprive the apple trees of the opportunity to get enough of melt water during spring. When frozen, the soil becomes very hard. Melt water will drain without reaching the root system. A lot of people think it's nothingterrible in the presence of running water. However, during their journey to the ground, snowflakes are saturated with oxygen and a host of other useful substances, and then share all this with the roots. From this it follows that the snow must be preserved, and the soil must be insulated with the help of covering materials.
You can contribute to the retention of the white cover with the help of large branches scattered around the site, and shields placed in open areas. Planting sunflowers and other rock plants will serve as additional snow retention. Now you know not only how to insulate an apple tree for the winter, but also what mistakes should be avoided in order to protect trees from diseases and death.
