Young Trees Going into Dormancy

Sat Sep 26, 2009 7:40 pm

Hello everyone,
It's been quite a while now but since Autumn has already replaced Summer I began thinking about the dormancy period that all Deciduous trees go into. My little trees have been faring very well and they have been flourishing through out the year, and I would like to keep that going for as long as I have them. So the weather will start to change very rapidly, although there are little signs here in North Carolina, and would simply know ahead of time to put them in comfort. The trees are still miniscule so they are planted in the ground, and I won't move them because two trees died on me like that, but it might snow again this year and maybe the next as well but what can I do to keep them alive? It also turns very icy here maybe two or three times per Winter, what do I do then to keep them from freezing? Thank-you.

Sat Sep 26, 2009 10:00 pm

It all depends on what kinds of trees you have. Different trees can tolerate different climate zones. Your trees will be especially well off because they are in the ground. Also, snow is surprisingly insulating. As long as your trees are covered in snow, the temperature around them won't drop below about 30 degrees.

Sun Sep 27, 2009 4:52 pm

Thank-you JTred,
I was chasing the thought in my mind that being in the ground would help but I simply wasn't sure, that's fascinating about the snow though it would have never crossed my mind. But two of my trees are Trident maples, four others are Red maples, and one is a boxwood, I'm not sure which type of boxwood it would be though. The climate zone is eight I suppose, that's what this climate map says anyways, I'm not quite sure that it"s updated though.

Mon Sep 28, 2009 3:49 pm

With those trees I don't think you have anything to worry about. If they are young then the ground is the best place for them anyway, even after the winter. Trident maple is rated down to zone 5, boxwood down to about 6, and red maples can be found all the way up into Canada.