The northern Rockies have a deep cold forecasted this weekend, down to -20 F in my area for three consecutive nights. My trees are about half zone 4 and half zone 5, including peaches, pears, cherries, plums, and apricots, but these temps are right into the threshold of zone 4. This is my first go-around with having trees to fret about!
I’m not worried about fruiting buds as the trees all were planted in 2023, more just their general health. They all have a 4" thick mulch ring around the perimeter, but not at the root crown per standard practice. I had a plan to pile snow around the bases to insulate the roots, but alas it’s been a depressingly snow-free winter.
I happen to have about 10 cubic yards of wood chip mulch on hand, so an easy thing to do would be make a good pile on each tree and then remove it in spring.
The next step up would be making a tent out of drop cloth over each tree that goes all the way to the ground, so some heat from the earth is retained in the crown of the tree. But that also would be a bit expensive and a hassle for ten trees, and might only increase the tree temp by a couple degrees or not at all. There is one small whip, and three at 4-5ft high, but the remainder are about 7ft.
What say the hive mind? Let nature run its course and may the strong survive? Or shall I honor our true human nature and attempt to control the environment?
I would pile the wood chips high up the trunk to the lowest limbs until spring thaw and rake them back down from around the crown towards the tree perimeter before bud break. Making a cover will take additional risk of withstanding heavy winter winds while the branches are brittle and easily broken. If you try to cover them the cover will catch the wind and do even more damage. For that reason I would not try to cover them.
Wish you good luck
Dennis
Kent, wa
I wonder if piling the wood chips up and then giving them a gratuitous wet down would cause them to freeze into an igloo. That may be a horrible idea, but worth an experiment.
Summercrisp Pear (zone 4), Tawara asian pear (zone 4), Goldmine Nectarine (zone 5), Contender Peach young whip (zone 4), Lapins Cherry (zone 5), Bing Cherry (zone 5), Mt Royal Plum (zone 4), Italian Prune (zone 4/5), Debbie’s Gold Apricot (which is actually zone 3 apparently). The peaches and cherries are planted nearer around a garage building where they do have some degree of shelter.
Thanks Dennis, that makes sense to me. The deep cold is usually windless here but it will typically blow in with a blustery cold front, and the trees will certainly be brittle.
Keep in mind that the enormous mound of wood chips may become a hotel for mice and voles with an all you can eat buffet that you wont know about until Spring removal.
Will do. Haven’t seen too many critters in the yard yet, aside from a pesky mole.
I was reading in another thread about putting incandescent Christmas lights under a tarp. I think I may try that just for the zone 5 peach, nectarine, and cherries. They’re also the shortest trees so easier to manage the wind issue, and I probably have enough drop cloth on hand for the those four.
I live in Ottawa, Canada so I have some experience with polar vortex conditions bringing temps down to around -30C/-22F. Won’t lie, it’ll be rough, but what will make it worse is how quickly the temperature drops. If the temps are already fairly cold, then the trees will already have prepped themselves a bit for extra protection. The problems start when the temperatures drop quickly from something more mild. Hopefully in your case it’s already pretty cold to start.
Of the trees on your list I have a few myself. My Summercrisp pear has shown itself to be incredibly hardy, it’s never had damage and it’s seen some rough winters. My Mt. Royal Plum as well. I’ve been pretty happy with those two over the years. Both will be 7 years old come spring.
For the rest I don’t have direct experience, but I do have a Shinseiki asian pear which is supposedly hardy to zone 4, but has seen some damage over the years. It’s surviving but stunted. I have read that apricots are actually very hardy so they might be fine. The problem with apricots is that they bloom too early. You might be in trouble with your peach and nectarine though. I have a Veteran peach and it got pretty beat up last winter. I had to remove most of the branches. I think a lot of fruit tree sellers tend to stretch zone strength for peaches and nectarines a bit too far in the hopes of making some extra sales up north. My peach is more of an experiment than anything else, I’m fully prepared for it to break my heart one winter. If you’re going to protect anything I’d do so with those first and foremost. I generally do not do anything to protect my trees, and lean towards the ‘let nature run it’s course’ school of thought. I’m not really convinced that there’s much you can do to protect a tree that’s outside and in the ground anyway. The only sure way is to leave it in a pot and put it in a garage for the winter. Good luck to you though!
I am glad that I am in Texas. -20 F. Oh no, definitely no. We are only predicted to be 9-12 F, depending on where you check. But it’s the drop the day before from 53F to 18 F within twelve hours that’s going to hurt more than the cold temperatures.
Thanks Mike. I’m definitely treating the peach and nectarine trees as an experiment, though the nectarine has such beautiful leaves I’m starting to get emotionally attached . People say peaches here fruit once every three or so years, when the winter finally treats them right. The contender peach just went in in October and is a tiny whip so I could just plant a bigger one in the spring and probably come out ahead. Haha.
There’s a bunch of commercial cherry orchards along Flathead Lake, just north of here, but they benefit from the big water moderating the temps.
Interesting point about the steepness of the drop. I hadn’t thought of it but it makes sense. Unfortunately it’s been rather mild, in the 30s F all winter and we’re in for a 45 degree drop.
I know a handful of old, productive apricot trees around town, so it must possible here. I clipped some scionwood from two in December and am planning on “diversifying the portfolio” of branches on the Debbie’s gold this spring. While I thought ahead and planted the peach & nectarine where they’re sheltered from winter/early spring sun but get a full blast in summer, I did plop the apricot down in the most southerly exposed spot in the yard, so early blooming could be a real problem. Only one way to find out!
I did end up putting a wheelbarrow of mulch each on the cherries, Asian pear, and contender peach. Then I buried the contender peach and the gold mine nectarine in snow. The cold front came in with 3" snow so there was just enough. A few nectarine branches were still sticking out so I put a drop cloth over and found the one incandescent light bulb still in the house to add a little warmth.
Will find out later how it really went! Two more nights at -15 then back to normal
. People say peaches here fruit once every three or so years, when the winter finally treats them right. The contender peach just went in in October and is a tiny whip so I could just plant a bigger one in the spring and probably come out ahead. Haha.