In the cold season, both mature trees andseedlings are subject to negative temperature, and may also be affected by hares and small rodents, for which the bark is a tempting food.
Preparation for warming
It is necessary to begin preliminary works withthe onset of the autumn months. Find out in advance all the information about how to cover apple trees for the winter. Prior to this, trees must be plentifully watered and fertilized. First, clean the earth from rotting fruit and various debris. When laying the humus, make sure that the layer thickness was at least 5 cm - it will not only insulate, but also provide additional feeding of the root system. It is important to know about the preparatory stages, and not just about how to cover the apple trees for the winter. Preparing apples for the winter is an opportunity to provide them with the necessary amount of useful substances 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 their branches and fix, using iron hooks. Then, around the trunk, you need to sketch the ground - in this way, the tree will be better protected during the frost.
After the onset of cold weather watering stops.Pruning trees is also carried out until the temperature drops below zero. After the end of the leaf fall, you can begin to remove the dead bark of the trunks, whitewash the trees. At this point, stock up with a solution of ferrous sulfate, which can prevent the appearance of lichen. After the preparatory work, carefully study the question of how to warm the apple tree for the winter.
How to cover?
From the choice of material for insulation will be directlydepend on the protection of the tree in severe frosts. It is recommended to use cane, sunflower stalks, tobacco, reed, roofing sheets or light wrapping paper. Avoid the film and roofing material, since at thaw such insulation can become the enemy of the apple tree. The earth mounds around the trunk will help not only to save the tree from the cold, but also to protect it from hares. Pay attention: the soil needs to be chosen dry and friable. After laying in the ditches, seedlings need to be covered with a spruce, cardboard, straw, glass. Old linoleum is also suitable for this.
The cover of crowns should be carried out withwinters (with a suitable amount of snow). If you secured the branches to the ground, then fill them with white cover. Next, the crown can be closed with sacking, and snow can be poured at the edges and insulated, leaving no loopholes for rodents. It is very important to understand in advance how best to cover the apple trees for the winter. If you make it before the snow falls, you can accidentally make a cozy mink with a sufficient amount of tasty provisions for mice. Therefore, you need to know exactly how to warm the apple tree for the winter, otherwise in the spring, instead of branches, you can find only bare rods. But do not expect strong frosts either to produce warming of branches and crowns.
Adult apple and seedlings
How to insulate an apple tree for the winter, if it is still young?Autumn seedlings, of course, need to pay more attention. Construct a paper cover at 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 shelter apple seedlings for the winter, because they suffer the most during hard frosts. As for trees that no longer belong to young plantings, they should also be warmed, but it will be enough to cover the trunk circle so that the roots do not suffer during the frost. As the insulating material suitable land (taken, for example, from the row spacing). Mulching also helps to 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 chopped cones.
Take into account
If the temperature rises, then in this casecareful harboring can lead to overheating of the kidneys. To prevent it, open and air seedlings (mature trees too). Do not allow dampening of the soil - this can cause rotting of the root system. Release the pristvolny circles from insulating materials as early as possible, since the soil needs to warm up in the sun, and the roots grow.
Protection against rodents
An experienced gardener sure you need to know notonly about how to warm the planted apple tree for the winter, but also how to protect it from mice and rabbits. In particular, if we are talking about 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 at the shelter of the trunk and branches from small rodents. Wrap the basal neck of young landings with old stockings. Having a covering material, make sure that there are no loopholes and small spaces - the mice will try to get to the delicate bark of the seedlings. Also, the lower part of the trunk can be protected with roofing.
Snow myths
Бытует мнение, что белый зимний покров также can serve as additional warming. Many advise to rake the snow closer to the trunks of apple trees. However, this should not be done in any case, because 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 will leave the unprotected soil freeze. Also, at the same time, you are depriving the apple tree of the opportunity to get enough of melt water during spring. When freezing the soil becomes very hard. Melt water will drain without reaching the root system. Many will think that there is nothing terrible in the presence of plumbing. However, on their way to the earth, snowflakes are saturated with oxygen and a host of other beneficial substances, and then they all share with the roots. From this it follows that it is necessary to preserve the snow, and to warm the soil with covering materials.
Contribute to the retention of white cover canwith the help of large branches scattered throughout the site, and shields set in open areas. Planting sunflower and other rocker plants will serve for 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 save trees from diseases and death.