Thoughts on this year's winter

[Sally PB]

One of the local meteorologists said on last night's weather forecast that this winter was shaping up very much like the winter of 1982. Unseasonably warm December, very warm around Christmas Day. Not much snow, either. Highs for the 24th-26th are forecast to be for 50-53 degrees. As in 1982, we're in a strong El Nino winter.

I remember the winter of 1982 very well. We had 62 (!!) degrees on Christmas Day. This was in Eastport, MI, at the north end of Torch Lake. (Yes, I know how lucky I was to live there.) I think some of my mom's crocuses had come up. There was no snow on the ground, and we had very little snow by the end of the year.

Well, reality reared its ugly head. Winter came a-roarin' back. Cold, cold, cold. The ground, not insulated by several inches of snow, froze hard, fast, and deep. Winter dragged on, and we had snow on Memorial Day.

I was in college, and in April, my mom wrote me that the local orchard had put a notice in the local paper, saying that they had lost ALL of their peach trees, and would not have any peaches for six years. I remember seeing the empty space where that orchard had been.

I think I might put a pile of leaves around my baby cherry trees. The trunks are already protected from mice. Any northern climate fruit tree growers think this is a good or bad idea? I'd like to hear anyone's thoughts.

 

[Debbie292d]

One of the local meteorologists said on last night's weather forecast that this winter was shaping up very much like the winter of 1982. Unseasonably warm December, very warm around Christmas Day. Not much snow, either. Highs for the 24th-26th are forecast to be for 50-53 degrees. As in 1982, we're in a strong El Nino winter.

I remember the winter of 1982 very well. We had 62 (!!) degrees on Christmas Day. This was in Eastport, MI, at the north end of Torch Lake. (Yes, I know how lucky I was to live there.) I think some of my mom's crocuses had come up. There was no snow on the ground, and we had very little snow by the end of the year.

Well, reality reared its ugly head. Winter came a-roarin' back. Cold, cold, cold. The ground, not insulated by several inches of snow, froze hard, fast, and deep. Winter dragged on, and we had snow on Memorial Day.

I was in college, and in April, my mom wrote me that the local orchard had put a notice in the local paper, saying that they had lost ALL of their peach trees, and would not have any peaches for six years. I remember seeing the empty space where that orchard had been.

I think I might put a pile of leaves around my baby cherry trees. The trunks are already protected from mice. Any northern climate fruit tree growers think this is a good or bad idea? I'd like to hear anyone's thoughts.

I love the prospects for a warmer winter. We still don't trust anything though and didn't cover any trees but did put our sawdust/dehydrated poop from the horse pellets in the coop around them all. We grew these fruit trees all in the past 7 years, our youngest being a cherry tree, but all of them we did this for and do it every year. Our peach tree finally got fruit this year and we sure don't want to lose anything to chance.

I don't think your idea hurts at all and leaves would be good anyway for them.

 

[Callender Girl]

My baby apple trees all got tree-wrapped and some extra wood mulch piled about. I think the extra leaves could be a good idea, although I haven't tried that.

Last year, critters took out all of my young apple trees. This year, I put a cage of hardware cloth around the replacements' trunks and suspended dog e-collars above the cages as baffles to keep climbing squirrels and/or stretching bunnies from girdling my trees.

 

[Sally PB]

Last year, critters took out all of my young apple trees.

I'm sorry to hear that. That stinks. We lost our first batch of apple trees to mice or voles girdling the trunks. This batch has a plastic tree guard wrapped around, and I put hardware cloth around that.

I rarely throw out pieces of hardware cloth. Even the small bits come in handy for things like this.

 

[saysfaa]

I remember that winter too, I think, I've lost track of which years which things happened. Christmas was soooo strange without deep snow. The Then, is that the year we had, like, 8 days of school in January? We would go to school on Monday, get sent home early on Tuesday as a storm approached. It would take two days to clear the roads enough for the buses. We would go on Thursday and be sent home early again. With minor variations - sometimes be sent home early on Monday, sometimes get a whole day on Thursday, sometimes not start at all on Thursday. The high school ended up cancelling midterms completely that year.

I'm not sure about the leaves.

The most important things are:

• well watered up until frost - I know it has been raining where you are but consider it if you get a dry spell before the cold sets in.
• Mulch around the base of the tree out as far as the dripline (as far as the branches reach)
• Paint the bark white on at least the south, southeast, and southwest sides up as far as practical. Or use a white tree guard around the trunk. Or see next bullet
• Stake a burlap wind/sun break around the tree.

Cherry trees are MUCH hardier than peach trees but still vulnerable, especially when young. As for the leaves, I'd be most worried about giving mice shelter even with protection around the trunks. With few enough trees to be very careful with putting the guard around the trees it might be okay. I'd at least consider some hardware cloth on the ground under the leaves - mice will eat roots too, I think, I'm not sure how deep they will go.

Might matting be a problem? I don't know.

How will the leaves not blow away?

Maybe I should put more protection around my little trees too. I have deer fence and white tree trunk tubes. Maybe I will make burlap screens too.

 

[Sally PB]

How will the leaves not blow away?

I have a 4' 2x3 welded wire fence around the trees, far out enough that the deer can't reach in to browse the tips.

We lost a lot of young trees (fruit and otherwise) to deer browse.

 

[Debbie292d]

I have a 4' 2x3 welded wire fence around the trees, far out enough that the deer can't reach in to browse the tips.

We lost a lot of young trees (fruit and otherwise) to deer browse.

We have to do that for ours too just on one side where they walk a path from the stream below past a side of our orchard and over to the farmer's field. I wanted to put motion lights over there, but hubby wants to let them keep walking through there. He cut cattle panels to make fences around them which is a bit overkill but if he's going to allow it, I made him make them good!