How to protect trees planted in autumn from winter?

In garden project construction, in order to meet the deadline, autumn is generally the golden season for greening construction. As a garden engineer, how to safely survive the winter and protect autumn-planted trees has become a top priority. Here, the editor will solve this problem for you based on past winter maintenance experience.

Key points for safe overwintering maintenance of autumn-planted trees:

1. Irrigate with antifreeze water. We know that the entire growth process of garden trees is inseparable from water. In winter, the temperature is low and evaporation is small, but watering is still needed. Especially for autumn planting, trees, especially newly planted trees, should be irrigated with water in early November. That is to say, irrigate with antifreeze water, and then combine it with freezing water to build up a mound of soil at the base of the tree. This not only supplies the water needed by the tree itself, but also improves the tree's cold resistance.

2. Pruning during the dormant period. In winter, most trees enter a dormant period, but they also need to be pruned. Firstly, it plays a role in strengthening the growth of the next year, and secondly, it promotes the rejuvenation of trees and the reshaping of the crown. The main pruning methods include branch pruning and stem cutting.

3. Paint the trunk white. The function of whitening is to reduce the local increase in temperature of branches and prevent sunburn damage by reflecting sunlight. At the same time, whitening also has the function of preventing diseases and insect pests. Apply the entire trunk and the lower part of the main branches, and strive to be even. The effect can be achieved by whitening twice, once in late autumn to early winter, and again in late winter to early spring. When applying to tree trunks, it is advisable to ensure that it does not flow, does not curl up, or does not fall off after drying. Whitening should be done on a sunny day. In rainy or snowy weather, whitening will reduce the effect.

4. Apply manure. Applying 5 to 10 centimeters of cow and horse manure into the tree tray can effectively increase the soil temperature, prevent freezing damage, and reduce the occurrence of dry shoots in spring.

5. Set up wind protection barriers. For marginal tree species such as boxwood and magnolia, wind barriers can be built to prevent cold. The wind barriers should be 50 cm higher than the tree body and wider than the tree body.

6. Wrap straw rope. Wrapping the tree with straw ropes can prevent direct sunlight and wind from hitting the tree, thereby reducing the amount of transpiration from the tree. This method is mostly used for some trees that are not very cold-resistant, such as magnolia, Haizhou Changshan, etc. or for trees newly planted in autumn.

7. Cover the shrub ground cover with film. For some low shrubs, you can use two flexible bamboo strips (about 3 cm wide), sharpen both ends, and insert them crosswise on the four sides of the plant. The top should be about 15 cm away from the crown of the plant, and then Cover with agricultural film and cover the surrounding area with soil. This method can be used for cold protection of low shrubs such as Chinese rose, Ligustrum lucidum, and Euonymus jiaodong.

8. Pest and disease control. The cold season of winter is a critical period for pest control. Many pathogenic bacteria and pests that harm green seedlings mostly overwinter in dead branches and grass, and then go up the trees to reproduce the next year. For example, the overwintering places for pathogens such as brown spot and gray leaf spot are in fallen leaves and weeds; most anthracnose pathogens overwinter on residual fruits. Therefore, it is necessary to clear away the dead branches, fallen leaves and other debris around the seedlings and in combination with winter pruning, cut off the diseased and insect-infested branches, and collect them for retting or burning to completely eliminate overwintering diseases and insect pests and cut off the pests and diseases from their source.